By Megan Doyle ’18

“Everything Everything,” has the perfect balance of sweet and sour. The movie could not be defined as a feel-good, but it was far from a heart-wrencher. Exceptional acting and purposeful cinematography, alongside the beautiful writing, ensured equity.

The story followed two 18 year olds, Maddy (Amandla Stenberg) and Olly (Nick Robinson), and their star-crossed situation. Maddy is unable to leave her hermetically-sealed house due to a severe illness, with only the company of her mother (Anika Noni Rose), her nurse Carla and Carla’s daughter. But when Olly becomes infatuated after seeing her through the window, things get interesting.

In an adorably romantic scene follows where Olly throws small stones at her window and writes his phone number on his window. This exchange was the beginning of their relationship — for weeks, they proceed to constantly text and call each other.

This movie is essentially the better version of “The Space Between Us,” as the couple’s relationship develops over the internet. This is very difficult for a movie to portray, and watching a stream of text messages can get stale fast. But “Everything Everything” handled it very well. The actors would talk to each other in person, but use language such as “ellipses” or “question mark” to indicate the conversation was through text.

I’m not going to lie: I had a few doubts going into this movie. After watching the trailers, I was concerned they would brush off Maddy’s illness, but they managed to exceed my expectations. Not only did they discuss SCID, her disease, throughout the movie, they also included diagrams and provided explanations for any of the audience’s potential questions.

Also, I was afraid the movie would be too romantic, but, once again, they proved me wrong. I am not a lover of romantic films, in fact, I generally hate them as they are too sappy for me. Although “Everything Everything” had a plot surrounding romance, it certainly wasn’t focused on it. Both Maddy and Olly had familial issues that were equally as important to the story.

Overall, this was an extremely enjoyable film, with exceptional acting, cinematography and writing. Even for a me, girl with a slight hatred of romance, this film was more than satisfying.