Everything, Everything – Unpopped Review

Quick Review:

As a 30 year-old male, it’s rare when I’m glad to have seen a movie based on a YA romance novel. But somehow Everything, Everything had just enough unique and interesting to be everything I could have asked for. (See what I did there… I crack myself up).

Synopsis:

A teenager who’s lived a sheltered life because she’s allergic to everything, falls for the boy who moves in next door. Everything, Everything is based on the YA novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon.

The Good:

Interesting Characters and Good Acting: Maddy and Olly (Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson respectively) were both surprisingly interesting characters. While sometimes their teenage romance was awkward, they leaned into it just enough to make it believable and interesting. I could see two teenagers acting and reacting this way as they fell in love. Although the two haven’t been in a lot of movies, I can see their careers taking off after these great performances.

Unique Elements: This to me is where the the story shined the most. It’s kind of hard to describe, but there are moments when the two characters are texting on their phones. Now reading these long drawn out conversations in a movie would be extremely boring. But what Everything, Everything does is it transports the conversation to an imaginary place where Maddy and Olly are talking. This happens multiple times in the film and each time is interesting, fun, and every funny.

The Humor: Speaking of funny, Everything, Everything surprisingly has a lot of humor. Although a lot of the humor speaks better to a teenage audience there was plenty for me to chuckle at as well.

The Ehh:

The Middle Act: I obviously don’t want to give anything away, but to me there was a definite moment when the story started to drag. Not only drag, but it seemed like a different movie. The tone needed to change for what was happening, but in doing so it lost all the fun elements of the first act. And it’s not like that part can just be taken out either. It is a very vital part of the story. But I was just happy it only lasts a little while. After that the tone and story go back to a similar place where it began and it gets interesting for the end.

Recommendation:

I’m not going to lie, it’s hard for me to say “I love a movie based on a YA romance novel,” but I really did like it. It’s not a high budget, high action movie that will draw a large crowd. But I do think it’s good counter programming that is great for fans of the genre and has enough for everyone else to enjoy. So although you may not run out and see it, it is definitely something you’d be glad you saw.

Matinee Showing

So that’s what I thought of Everything, Everything, what did you think? Let me know in the comments below. Don’t forget to follow me on Movie-blogger.com, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, my comedy podcast In Air Quotes, and remember to always keep it unpopped!

Ian Hornbaker

UnpoppedReview

Sometimes a film, no matter how much love is involved, fails to meet expectations. That’s where I jump in and break down “The Good,” “The Ehh” and “The Ugh-ly.” My purpose is to try to determine how the film succeeded and how it could have been better. I believe that this process can elevate the film industry and make the film going experience better for all.