By: Victoria Lopatka
Imagine waking up one morning to find that your distant, selfish boyfriend is suddenly affectionate, sensitive, and romantic: taking you to the beach for picnics, driving through sunny forests, and having intimate conversations about your family issues — then the next day, he’s back to being distant and disinterested. This is what Rhiannon, a kind-hearted and shy 16-year-old girl experiences at the beginning of Every Day, the film based on the book by David Levithan. Little does Rhiannon know, her boyfriend, Justin, has been taken over by a sexually ambiguous being that bounces from inhabiting one body to the next – kind of like a demonic possession, but significantly sweeter and funnier. This being goes by A and wakes up inhabiting a new person every 24 hours. Throughout the movie, A becomes 15 different teenagers of different ethnicities and body types. Rhiannon slowly falls in love with each one, finding a soulmate in the soul behind the faces. Every day, Rhiannon and A find each other, A always looking a little different.
It seems like teenage romance movies are often written off and made fun of, and that’s a real shame because many have a lot to offer. Every Day has awesome LGBTQ+ themes and undertones. Love completely transcends gender, as Rhiannon shares intimate moments with A, regardless of the body they inhabit. Vic, one of the people A inhabits, tries to explain to Rhiannon how they feel about her, saying, “Not everyone’s bodies align with their minds.” This movie is an excellent nod to the agender community, transgender community, and others within the LGBTQ+ spectrum. I would highly recommend this film to moviegoers who don’t often see queer movies and would like to be introduced.
The diverse characters are another aspect of this movie that had me cheering. Multiple youths, all different ethnicities, sizes, genders, and orientations are showcased in an honest and intimate way. This movie is familiar in some aspects: teenagers wearing Converse sneakers, navigating high school and family issues, while trying to find true love, but in other ways, it’s fresh and thought-provoking. In a scene where A inhabits Rhiannon’s own body, the question is raised, “What would you do if you lived someone else’s life for them?” Would you be braver and take more risks? Further, what would we do if we didn’t fear the consequences that came the next day?
My only issue with Every Day is that I was left wanting MORE. By the end of the movie, you feel as if you really know both A and Rhiannon, so an epilogue to see how they both ended up would be very welcome. I felt especially curious to see more of the teenagers that A inhabited. Also, I would’ve liked to see more intimacy between Rhiannon and A-embodying-girls. Rhiannon is shown in multiple romantic moments with A-as-guys, but few with other girls, and that feels like such a missed opportunity. I found myself mistakenly referring to A as “he” because A so often embodies a male in romantic scenes. I loved the cuteness exhibited between Rhiannon and A-as-males, and some scenes exhibiting this same beautifulness between two females would’ve bettered this movie overall.
