Parents' Guide to Never Rarely Sometimes Always

This isn't a Hollywood movie: It's the solemn, bare-bones, authentic story of a lower-middle-class teen facing an unexpected pregnancy and doing her best to deal with it. Autumn isn't a talker and most of the time expresses little emotion. But that blank face is a springboard for the mystery viewers try to solve during the film: Who is the father, and what's going on in Autumn's family? (The mother seems like a good egg, while the father is clearly a jerk.) Her default lack of expression also strengthens the moments in which she does get worried or emotional -- we may not know exactly what's going on, but it's enough to know that her desire to get an abortion is well-founded.

That said, Never Rarely Sometimes Always is remarkably nonjudgmental. Writer-director Eliza Hittman authentically portrays one girl's experience, and, in doing so, creates almost an instructional guide. This film's intention isn't to be a big-screen hit, but rather to be more of a resource young women can seek out to help explain and demystify the process of terminating a pregnancy. It also displays the discomfort young women feel with the come-ons, harassment, and inappropriate behavior they encounter regularly. Men don't come off well in the film; there's not one who's not a creep -- even the one "nice" guy is nice because he wants something. And that too can be part of the young female experience. Hittman boldly plays out Autumn's story with no score: The silence can make the time pass slowly, but, just like real life, the deafening silence makes our choices louder.