REVIEW/OPINION

It doesn’t take long to figure out the challenge 17-year-old Autumn faces in Never Rarely Sometimes Always. A silent shot of a camera traveling down her body and stopping on her bare midriff makes it clear: she’s pregnant.

This spare drama — which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in January and is streaming on Amazon Prime — follows the obstacles that seemingly never stop in the morose high schooler’s determined effort to get an abortion. There’s no way anyone would describe this somber film as enjoyable, but its subtlety and clarity succeed in leaving an unforgettable impression. No one could walk away without wondering how to fill in the gaps of what’s left unsaid while spending some time pondering the plight of teenagers in Autumn’s situation.

Played with remarkable restraint by Sidney Flanigan, Autumn lives in a small Pennsylvania town with her unexceptional family. There’s no bounce in her step, no giggling with girlfriends. She keeps to herself, never smiles, and doesn’t seem to find much enjoyment in a life that consists of going to school, then to a job as a cashier at a grocery store.

What we soon figure out, though, is that Autumn finds release through writing and singing songs, one of which alludes to having a relationship with a partner who controls her and makes her do things she doesn’t want to do.

The real-life outcome of what’s hinted at in her song is revealed with a pregnancy test at a local facility that puts a forward spin on the situation with cheery promises of how much she will love that beautiful baby. Or, if that’s not what she wants, how much a loving family would be thrilled with the chance to adopt.

After Autumn bolts away from her cash register — the fastest move she makes in the entire film — in a mad dash to the employee restroom to throw up, her cousin and co-worker Skylar (Talia Ryder) figures out what’s going on.

Deadset on having an abortion, but living in a state where that’s not possible without parental consent, Autumn conceives of a plan to take a bus to New York City and end the pregnancy. Skylar goes with her.

The experiences of two teenagers who have never negotiated the city before are illuminating for their realism and utter lack of glamour. The girls think they’ll go there and come back the same day, but complications with the extent of Autumn’s pregnancy force them to stay in the city — without enough money or means to do so — two days longer than they expected.

This isn’t presented as a bubbly teen-travel adventure spent romping through Soho shops; shot mostly within the confines of the New York Port Authority, it’s a grim revelation of how those with limited resources and experience have to do the best they can. It doesn’t help that Autumn is not forthcoming to the few who reach out to help her; ferociously independent, she’d rather do it herself, but she doesn’t know how.

Ryder takes over the focus of the film as she somehow musters the grace to be kind to her cousin, who certainly doesn’t return the favor. There’s no happy ending here; just a gradual resolution, with the brightest spot coming during a post-procedure feast at a bakery on the edge of Chinatown, complete with shared bites of steamed red bean buns. It’s the only time Autumn smiles.

Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) is a 17-yearold who, with the help of her teenage cousin, must navigate a byzantine bureaucracy in Eliza Hittman’s Sundance hit Never Rarely Sometimes Often.

Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), an angsty high school student from an isolated Pennsylvania town, discovers she’s pregnant and takes a bus to New York City to avoid her home state’s strict parental-consent abortion laws in Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always.