How ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ Tackles Tough Questions | Anatomy of...

How ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ Tackles Tough Questions | Anatomy of a Scene

Apr 10, 2020

The New York Times

A series of questions posed to a young woman at an abortion clinic takes an emotional toll in the drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” written and directed by Eliza Hittman and now available on demand.

The main character, Autumn, played by Sidney Flanigan, has traveled from her home in Pennsylvania to New York City to seek an abortion. At a Planned Parenthood clinic, a social worker (Kelly Chapman, an actual counselor Hittman met doing research for the film) goes over a list of questions, mainly about her relationships, with four possible responses: never, rarely, sometimes or always. That questioning becomes increasingly more taxing for Autumn as the scene progresses.

In this video, Hittman talks about the way the scene was rehearsed, how she isolated her lead actress on the set before shooting, and why she kept the image simple (primarily a one-take shot trained on Autumn’s face).