Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #11. Eliza Hittman’s Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always

Published on February 8, 2019

Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always

Known for her sharp assessment of the youth culture class in It Felt Like Love and Beach Rats, Eliza Hittman has surely and steadily won us over with portraits (a composition comprised of non-professional actors) that leave an imprint. Reteaming with cinematographer Hélène Louvart, Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always sees a trio of Autumn, Sidney and Jasper in a misadventure that crosses state lines. Currently casting, principal photography is set for February-March 2019 in New York and Pennsylvania. The film is produced by heavy hitters in PASTEL’s Adele Romanski and Sara Murphy (If Beale Street Could Talk).

Gist: Faced with a crisis pregnancy, Autumn, a teenage girl in rural Pennsylvania, realizes she has no options. Risking everything, Autumn and her cousin Sidney hop a Greyhound bus on a long, expensive and distressing pilgrimage to New York City to try and find an abortion clinic.

Release Date/Prediction: With production being lined-up for February and March, this could be one of many American indie projects to mix it up at Venice. Of course, a Sundance 2020 third time homecoming is also possible.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).