Horst_In_Translation Review of Every Day

Every Day (2018)

Solid stuff, slightly better than your average teen romance movie

[6/10 · 25 June 2018]

"Every Day" is a new 2018 movie from the United States that runs for slightly over 90 minutes and was directed by Emmy winner Michael Sucsy, his second big screen release and we will see if it can get as popular as "The Vow". The script is by Jesse Andrews and he also has some pretty known stuff in his body of work given how short he's been in the industry. The original novel is by David Levithan and it is already his third work that got adapted and turned into a movie, his first drama with little to no comedy. The lead actress ia Australian Angourie Rice and I must say I don't think I know her or have seen her in anything else before, but the longer the film went, the more charming her performance felt after I had some early struggles with her, but it turned out all fine, which is important obviously as she is in basically every scene and she is the only one. We'll see what the industry has in story for her in terms of her career. Now back to this movie. As much as Rice may be in the center of it all, it is probably more about the plot and romance drama here. The introduction is slightly too long and there are other moments too that did not feel entirely convincing like the scene at the restaurant when she seems to believe the guy she meets there only to all of a sudden be in complete disbelief again, an example of sub-par writing. The part when A moves into her body is also not too good and should have been among the film's highlights instead. But there are many decent moments that make more than up for it. For example I liked some of the little references about how A is looking for others like him online. Or how they got in all these scenes with new characters that A turns into, maybe a bit underwhelming in terms of how and when he turns into female characters. The story is of course one that could have gotten quickly pretentious and disappointing and too full of itself with the concept of a girl, especially such a young one, falling in love with a sould away from all physical temptations. On the contrary, the one joke about 10% how she likes how handsome his current persona was on one occasion was very smart. Eventually, the final plot twist with how she falls in love with the physical traits of somebody A is inside was good and not so good at the same time. First of all, that she falls in love with a guy she knows for a long time hmm I'm not sure, but also how A is fully altruistic in that scenario and how Rhiannon is ready for a new love all of a sudden despite not having found closure with the soul she loves may all be a bit in the rushed side. The one scene I found pretentious was the one with the suicidal young girl, this was really an inclusion that was not needed and the conflict about saving her vs. not having an impact did not feel half as important and relevant as they wanted it to be. So overall, a slightly improved teen schmaltz film I'd say. Maybe a good watch if you have a significant other and are around the same age as the characters here, or a bit older. Or if you are just a hopeless romantic like myself. It's tough to really dislike this film I must say, it has to many enchanting moments for that. I give it a thumbs-up and recommend checking it out.