Edgewater High School Newspaper Established 1952

Everything Everything Review

Everything, Everything is officially everything you could want in a movie. There’s comedy, tragedy, romance, and adventure rolled all into one all while maintaining its realistic appeal.

Synopsis:

For those who don’t know Everything, Everything follows the life of eighteen-year-old Madeline “Maddy” Whittier (Amandla Stenberg) who is basically the modern female version of the bubble boy.  From the time she was brought home from the hospital as a baby Maddy hasn’t stepped foot outside her home due to a diagnosis of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID. The disease makes it impossible to live a normal life due to her weak immune system.

Maddy’s life is pretty mundane; she attends a virtual school, reads, writes extremely short reviews on books and builds models of buildings. Her dull world is transformed the moment her cute but indiscernible neighbor Olly Bright (Nick Robinson) is introduced and makes her wish for more in life.

As the two grows closer Maddy finds herself going against mother’s  wishes. This is too much for her mother who had suffered so much tragedy in her life already.

One day, Maddy can’t wait any longer and decides to go on an adventure with Olly that lead the two down a road of thrill and love as well as unforeseen consequences.

Characters:

Madeline Whittier is surprisingly full of life for someone who spent eighteen years existing instead of living. Amandla Stenberg did a great job making the character lovable and quirky. The quick-witted responses and hilarious face expressions of Stenberg will have you wanting to be friends with Maddy.

I appreciated the growth of the character throughout the movie. It was obvious in the exposition that she was not happy with her life, that no matter how comfortable her mother sought to make her she wasn’t content and it was nice to watch as she found what made her happy, or should I say who?

Olly Bright. His name is quite ironic considering he dresses in black in basically every scene he’s in. But despite his icy appearance, Olly is such a sweetheart. Olly doesn’t have the best home life and that is often expressed in his thinking and is the reason he is so protective over Maddy. Nick Robinson was definitely the perfect fit for this role as I cannot imagine another male actor playing that part justice.

Pauline Whittier (Anika Noni Rose), Maddy’s mother, is a pill to swallow. She takes protective mama bear to a whole new level. And while I love how much she cared for Maddy and how determined she is to keep her safe I didn’t appreciate certain instances when I feel she crushes Maddy’s hopes and dreams.

This movie is beautifully directed. I enjoyed the concept, where the characters jumped in and out of reality into what can only be described as some sort of alternate universe or dimension. This feature added intimacy in a way because as the audience we know that one you see a character enter that other world something private and important was happening.

The soundtrack is amazing. I’m usually distracted by a familiar song when it’s played in a movie (for example Boom Boom Clap in Fault in our Stars) but the storyline was strong enough that the music enhanced the scene rather than covered it up.

Final thoughts:

I went to see Everything, Everything on Saturday, May 2o. I then proceeded to go and see it again Sunday, May 21. It’s that good. This isn’t just some teen romance, heart eyes, boy gets girl chick flick. This is a movie about love, and what it drives a person to do.  This is a movie about family and the ups and downs they go through. This is a movie about self-discovery and hope. This is a movie I recommend you go see immediately.

Rating: Five out of five emeralds