Everything, Everything
Every generation gets the drippy, star-crossed teenage romance that it deserves, and so here comes Stella Meghie’s self-conscious, phone-obsessed Everything, Everything, a story of sensitive souls falling in love over text messages and stolen glimpses, perfect for the swipe-right age of emotional disaffection and technological intimacy. Too bad, then, that the film is so slipshod and creaky, so devoid of energy, so dependent on hoary clichés and conventions instead of anything fresh and new. Everything, Everything stars Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson as Maddy and Olly, young lovers separated by immunodeficiency. Fresh air is Maddy’s sworn enemy, but she’d risk it all for an emo-lite skater boy with dreamy hair. Enter Olly, who moves in next door with his family and their fuzzily sketched dysfunctions. For most of its blessedly brief running time, Everything, Everything is cute, disposable drivel, but the film flushes away any goodwill in the closing minutes. D.B.
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