At the start of "Everything, Everything," it was clear that the film would be either (a) a Romeo & Juliet-style tearjerker or (b) a wish-fulfillment fantasy. As it turned out, the scripting was so bad that the film ended somewhere in the middle between these polarities.
The two young actors were winsome in their performances of the star-crossed lovers, Maddy Whittier and Olly Bright. The youngsters faced the insurmountable conflict of family dysfunction, but also the grim realities of Maddy living in an antiseptic bubble, due to her condition of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). She is unable even to go outside, let alone have personal contact with others, due to her weak immune system.
Given this background, it was a stretch to believe that the two young people would take off for Hawaii together. Any sensitive filmmgoer had to cringe when Maddy boarded the germ-y airplane, not to mention bedding down with Olly.
SPOILER FOLLOWS: But nothing can prepare the viewer for the major revelation that occurs late in the film. It turns out that the mother, a medical doctor who has sworn the Hippocratic oath, has lied to her daughter about the SCID; the kid was fine all along! Having lost her husband and her baby boy, Dr. Pauline Whittier was suffering from such emotional pain and narcissism that she turned into a super control freak with regard to her daughter's life. The revelation of a sick and twisted mother did not emerge organically out of the character of Dr. Whittier. Rather, it was a convenient plot twist clumsily imposed on the film to allow the two young people to elope. There was blatant dishonesty in the portrayal of the doctor. How could any parent lock a child up, stunt the child's development, and thwart the youngster's dreams? The excellent actress playing the role of the doctor had to struggle to put a human face on a psychotic character.
It is difficult to come to terms with a film that elicits neither tears nor warmth from the outcome of the relationship of young Maddy and Olly. The feeling that results in this bizarre film may best be described as "icky." Perhaps there will be a sequel in which the deranged Dr. Whittier meets the abusive father of Olly Bright next door. Those two single parents who turned their families into train wrecks would make a fine pair indeed.
The two young actors were winsome in their performances of the star-crossed lovers, Maddy Whittier and Olly Bright. The youngsters faced the insurmountable conflict of family dysfunction, but also the grim realities of Maddy living in an antiseptic bubble, due to her condition of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). She is unable even to go outside, let alone have personal contact with others, due to her weak immune system.
Given this background, it was a stretch to believe that the two young people would take off for Hawaii together. Any sensitive filmmgoer had to cringe when Maddy boarded the germ-y airplane, not to mention bedding down with Olly.
SPOILER FOLLOWS: But nothing can prepare the viewer for the major revelation that occurs late in the film. It turns out that the mother, a medical doctor who has sworn the Hippocratic oath, has lied to her daughter about the SCID; the kid was fine all along! Having lost her husband and her baby boy, Dr. Pauline Whittier was suffering from such emotional pain and narcissism that she turned into a super control freak with regard to her daughter's life. The revelation of a sick and twisted mother did not emerge organically out of the character of Dr. Whittier. Rather, it was a convenient plot twist clumsily imposed on the film to allow the two young people to elope. There was blatant dishonesty in the portrayal of the doctor. How could any parent lock a child up, stunt the child's development, and thwart the youngster's dreams? The excellent actress playing the role of the doctor had to struggle to put a human face on a psychotic character.
It is difficult to come to terms with a film that elicits neither tears nor warmth from the outcome of the relationship of young Maddy and Olly. The feeling that results in this bizarre film may best be described as "icky." Perhaps there will be a sequel in which the deranged Dr. Whittier meets the abusive father of Olly Bright next door. Those two single parents who turned their families into train wrecks would make a fine pair indeed.