Everything, Everything may truly be one of the few book adaptations that cut what was necessary, added what was needed, and casts everyone nearly perfectly. Summary For nearly all of Maddy’s (Amandla Stenberg) life, of which is now 18 years, she hasn’t left her house. When she was a baby she was in Maui, but…


Read our Editorial Guidelines regarding how posts are written and rated and our use of affiliate links.


Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything may truly be one of the few book adaptations that cut what was necessary, added what was needed, and casts everyone nearly perfectly.

Summary

For nearly all of Maddy’s (Amandla Stenberg) life, of which is now 18 years, she hasn’t left her house. When she was a baby she was in Maui, but once her dad and brother died there and she got sick not too long after, apparently with SCIDs [note]For More Information[/note], her mother Pauline (Anika Noni Rose), kept her in the house. After all, those with SCIDs have such a weak immune system that without everything filtered or sanitized, it could lead to a painful death. Something Pauline has already been through twice so she is taking no chances.

Now, as you can imagine, being cooped up for 18 years with only your mom, Nurse Carla (Ana de la Reguera), and sometimes her daughter Rosa (Danube Hermosillo), to hang out with can get boring. After all, if you sit around reading all day, watching TV and movies, and just looking out the window, naturally you get curious about what it means to live. What it means to love.

Enter Olly (Nick Robinson) who moves next door and is instantly taken with Maddy, as she is him. What begins as texting back and forth turns into Maddy begging Carla to let him into the house just to see him up close, breathe the same air. However, with time, that isn’t enough. She wants to feel him, kiss him, and more. Which, once her mother discovers their relationship, so does all that Maddy knows come to an end. Leaving her to face a very tough decision. Will she at 18 rebel against her mother and face the unknown or be content to live this sheltered and lonely life? Of which, outside of her mom, and Rosa at times, that will be who she has most of her conversations with. [note]Book Change 1: Maddy is now half-white and not half-Asian (Japanese if I recall right)[/note] [note]Book Change 2: Rosa is no longer someone just talked about but someone Maddy actually hangs out with from time to time. Not often, but it is established they do have a friendship.[/note] [note]Book Change 3: We don’t see her professor for Architecture or her tutor[/note] [note]Book Change 4: As you would expect, the sex scene is vaguely hinted at and isn’t as, for a lack of a better term, graphic, as the book.[/note] [note]Book Change 5: If I recall right, what triggers Maddy getting sick in Hawaii was seafood. She just gets sick because of a weak immune system in the movie.[/note] [note]Book Change 6: They speed up the whole “I’m not sick” thing.[/note] [note]Book Change 7: Maddy does a handstand to show off and Olly doesn’t do not a single one.[/note] [note]Book Change 8: Olly going on the roof doesn’t happen at all.[/note] [note]Book Change 9: Rather than feature a bunch of text bubbles going back and forth, Olly and Maddy talk inside the different architecture models she makes. Usually with the astronaut watching and sometimes interacting with her.[/note]

Highlights

Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson

9BdUDzy6nk0DynjsDBCLTMe92bqey3gthViZOkeu1wINul4 tQ6Gc0mCJotReF9oCxfMOgGdVVIj3DG3shBdbSzLk3FjLsETdU42gvVqdXPCbQEUvVDEYyRdyWzRmant KXGajWndZKA7vOOxmDa69xckGvdIjDNwkGGvE8n9ROMtcdPYBCrpqcxdeeOaLZGhE3GJbBKI8dc2Ck3WICTFX8yeR4hDVsJ78GS7k8jrFuOplZ9tr94WcBajsRQbFSQv8DDO0gtoiqVcnC5FVpjMakE7QdIuxdUXgrJDHmJ5lKdmUjxLGp 1 O q6ZLKTQbZ4JtlWJKM0Mii1Yjv1mq59GVNNwXOjbt7prGNr20PL6y8YHhJczLEwfoSmRh0nu8gT3 pWHUNmeI36W9IVJtc2cnXsR1aw63ri3pCe9rOPFzPRjG6YaTRh2O9ynIBRAonJeWQ HsqOyIwigwo4saqZF290qzP2Myfaw04SesHKFVc5jeMrRZk0ceIbGKMP0wXQHWJuC6wVFwLalxOvzCV64Zv 5US7L1XFiAI5h1hiO3GHV0qcM3vKMHgrEmdTe7DfeLBSsdLbAxJTOE4A3BVKiAohvzXomBUXvAM0DnnvCJvHsKyw=w1518 h763 no

In the nicest way possible, Stenberg inhabits within the awkwardness which is Maddy. The way she stares at Olly, seems unable to know what to do with her hands, the way she walks around him at first, it all really pushes the idea that this is a girl who hasn’t much experience with boys. Especially boys who she has an interest in.

But it also goes beyond that. For me, it is rare to find myself smiling just for the hell of it. Heck, crying for any reason but death or some kind of setback is rare. Yet, the way Stenberg and Robinson interact, it is like the purest of love you have ever seen. It is slow, curious, and questioning. Cautious because of her assumed disease and because he doesn’t understand it well. Yet, because their hormones and feelings are so overwhelming, they find it too hard to eventually not move closer, to not touch and eventually kiss.

I mean, despite both being in their late teens, there is something so cute and pure to them. Not to the point this seems watered down, but like it is from some bygone era where both leads had romance in mind, weren’t focused on getting to have their first time [note] Though they still have sex, without there being any note of a condom. But, then again, the sex is only hinted by him unzipping her swimsuit and us seeing, assumingly, some part of Stenberg’s side or leg.[/note], and their fights made sense. That is, rather than something out of left field and dramatic which requires a grand gesture to make up for.

The Way Stenberg is Shot

1DW6 vpwQUd4MH02ln64AIw1GBoTmQ3uxkrT8tKVvx ViomGvBnWFT8IDFPSyryUldbqWVunqqhz0ScFG45VVlzyitXXoutHd gYhatdOEqILUWms9VAS5oDWFkWLog3Xjz5LqohdpIxH3MD9OZvCGPlSSsl9PAaQIbVRI2zReID567aNNZXtZ1 etXr2pqTEFjlI8V6VOz1X kdJOsUvdYClZoOotjQPy1Xh Cr8Ol16nKxdOkbFPSexXZ6RnnDHLLZwhebk8X29tzZs8H0eQOel0OxyXZcNs1BHKewRf8MYuFRJ8BI1X Ht6WK4dly4cD KXjoMeBn6 sjfspF9CL42jYuR68OyCa m0R uHeSd5ssgd1oMdQwzy6wcpW GGthSBze8z4qy6xjrk1tWZHdyoFVeqOt6eJZ2YM4W0RLb9MRxIDzSs0v4Npc1OYksRSSbACw1MfSegn3xVneDmeL4YoqeFLa2aan0 wMFlW7JMYpi9byXyWhQ7vuCN193SRjMnwx8N7w11bN3Sb32YTQ1zQKe0f5BQejcqrBupqy 1Mx8jo95FB2dk30gMp b2TjL3VS9tbsAlIAixKgaNib8dlsiYXJUAo6Al96g6qwjLNBpBSA=w1518 h758 no

Usually, cinematography goes over my head since my focus is more so on character development and story. However, for once, I had to take note of the technical aspect because I just can’t recall a camera so lovingly going over a Black woman’s skin. And I mean lovingly without some sort of innuendo for it really does seem to just want to highlight the beauty of Stenberg’s melanin, the curls on her head, and even the little hair or perhaps acme bumps. It brings you sort of into Olly’s mind of taking in this girl who has been locked away in her house all this time and yet, look at her. Who wouldn’t want to show her off?

On The Fence

Consistent Use of Animation and Subtitles

One of the things which I enjoyed, but wasn’t consistently used, was the animations, drawing, and even inner thought subtitles. We see this mostly in the beginning of the film, like when Maddy explains what SCIDs is and when she and Olly first meet in the sunroom, but after that, they aren’t really used.

Pauline

dbmWOAiP9xSV8SOxQkT sj7DJpOp8l7vCtP kD2BfntAF HpWpAGPgOya7KT1D6STUQucMLOPe QtolX53iVxrE14rG56UPD0OACwtMVpj5QQRTqrlxMVJggfIYtjXEuDHfZ41hBzyHPCSqtzsWQSQvlCBdGZm6eG80PymBG5W1yZ1RZZPO2 YDNiBczwdieHe80MotiM T uCkFBvx1Cs25jTWVVe4egZlBZIsGGJfIOeptAEEkK BUg 5VigTzQceoNxej7nu4EHXu1XMj7h6Lh7RfeLNSSkSuorubVULwqE0 ihiKbx5 EagCtAdn8f3AQpxmhctEN3OWwCW1PSLG2Kc5hj83VDuzVA5Fi1Z2HVTDLzzD5XH7Ml7LBkcWC xFWbk2UGPTP sUXt8DqPssPb3CpkvVO6naBEOfft635l7cr9MVgWFmu6nFf9fq77yPlVL2oQr32ctxxD4CsL2yDGArHEOFwV8LjIlewXsiJdXuShDEYD7GNVE4RwYGPTb4RxOMzlruiyBDFVO RMTwqyJSqX70NPHUmdKZlLdLxBI32jzKeLkOiFfjQ90d97oRJ1XbdAu03doRTxyQAZt2z4taFzHbxTyERqTiXxyIREEo2A=w1518 h764 no

With this Mommy Dead and Dearest movie drawing comparisons, and Pauline being like many an adult in a YA novel adaptation, meaning she is given the bare minimum of development, it makes it hard to understand her side to things. Unlike, say, Regina in Switched at Birth, you don’t see any real time and effort to understand why this adult, for years, was able to keep up a lie. One which wasn’t something as simple as pretending Santa or the Easter Bunny exists, but keeping an entire life away from their child. And while you get it, it is because she lost her husband and son in a car accident, I don’t think we get the full extent of how that mentally screwed her up into being able to keep up this charade with Maddy, and bringing other people into it, for 18 years.

Overall: Positive (Worth Seeing)

uJltZVKRXNLKLiq4U5eRrcQY7OcQIIZAi7ignCdRmdhb9SXLfF3Iw0uXHY3D6 OQuL9ewRpxZM5Ozoh u5REEhQSjleNy0mJufrUWBQasYnmSUt EVkmLjUjc YmeE55xB Kd5E8ydgKP4lGh1EcmU6r0Rr9gnsYT oCz2dWfbpDhBXVv UutOYUS0tAVAJlhtNYc644ccN8PKyQcOADlDaQI DyifWCq8EWinlRrxaYHTTIwtW4cN82OIRBlT6SWsxg3JOpm3OKkyqJMmUpfyX 2ZCTPPb2aYzGCrydBAfpnb5Ka7hK4 NlUmPASTThJ1 z16tSxaXDRWaozH7sbPSXnDPu6mbDRbfnefQq5JSUoocsybbZfb0X6BvYDOIwAEApeKdCpqus85eRdW2PjxLyvOivB kfm OVzwGHPf9K LkpHHlis6b34DSxxVCl WKdR8eLkdzSDlegpOfuxLajhHxvn CAeK7ryhC9Aa8JfnaCpQlGgK0esCN5iWY1V xafiyxI4w96yCATYSqWU3J8w4FoIN9SUVNcDJjpR3L6FGJ8ic1L6jhaULJsyqoBNTVU88QzfJZJ2w6Ydr5bHHnSUopuBQaB27gCGM0cuKJTCsg=w1518 h767 no
Admittedly, more so the actors in the movie than the movie itself.

Is Everything, Everything groundbreaking? Kind of. If only because finding a Black lead in a movie like this, especially a Black female, who isn’t dealing with bullying or prejudice is rare. Also, being that there aren’t a huge amount of well-known YA novels featuring Black, in this case bi-racial, young women, also gives the movie a feather in its hat. However, here at Wherever I Look, being a special snowflake doesn’t get you brownie points.

Leading to why this is marked Positive. What Everything, Everything does feels like it opens a door. It isn’t satisfied with just being one of the few, or perhaps the only to some people’s knowledge. No, it wants to set a standard. It wants to show the beauty of curly hair, a Black woman’s skin, and not through sexualizing her, per se, but just noting how dreamy it can be to really look at a Black woman. Also, through Stenberg, we get what almost seems like a sense of realness. She isn’t just copying what she assumes are Maddy’s traits, but tapping into her own awkwardness and bringing it to the character. She finds ways to take you on the same journey she went on to discover and understand Maddy, as does Robinson with Olly.

Though perhaps what really makes this film is that it is just plain sweet. It makes you smile so gaily that you probably look like you’re in a trance and watching Maddy find love can make you happy enough to cry. For while Rose may not drive it home for why Pauline was so cautious, everything else gets to your emotions in ways most films use pain, defeat, or a well-deserved triumph to get. Meanwhile, this film just relies on its actors and boy do they deliver. So head out to see Everything, Everything in a theater near you.


Listed Under Categories: ,


Follow, Like and Subscribe


2 Comments

  1. I going to admit, I didn’t much like the book. It started interesting enough but I just felt it dragged too long and I wasn’t all that interested in the characters as people. This is a movie I’m probably not too keen on seeing.

    1. The book definitely was a bore. However, I think that is mostly because the genre is so saturated with John Green, dystopia, or Skins (the TV show) type novels that something which seems so, almost wholesome, is boring.

      I mean, yeah, Olly’s dad is a drunk and abusive and half of Maddy’s family died in a accident, but there isn’t a huge focus on that. There isn’t your usual struggle focus which usually leads you to sympathize for the character. It’s more so about a very safe and simple romance.

      Of which, strip the interracial Black/Japanese girl and you are left with something borderline generic. Even with the SCID thing since, honestly, while it does surprise you when you find out, I must admit that I wasn’t flipping out or anything. Nor did I find it clever.

      Thinking about it now, I do believe the only reason I got through that book was because I’m an Amandla fan. Because, while I remember what happened, I don’t feel compelled to re read that book at all.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.