Review of Everlasting (2016) by The All-Seeing I — 12 Jan 2019

As the writer of Everlasting, Anthony Stabley clearly empowered himself with a full range of motion in crafting what amounts to some darkly fantastic storytelling. And as the film's director, his consistently spot-on choices - from casting to set design to cinematography - have allowed him to bring to life that tale in a way that leaves an utterly distinct fingerprint. Everlasting is prototypical indie filmmaking - beholden to no one, it asks neither permission nor forgiveness.

Arguably, indie films can best accelerate past their major studio brethren in their righteous commitment to the uniqueness of story. But they can also strain when indie-accessible actors must truly blur the lines between competence and high level performance. Stabley successfully bridges this gap with his male and female leads. Their chemistry is palpable, and each project themselves in alien and conflicted ways. As characters, they're too young to know all that life holds in store, but in the incremental learning, the innocence of youth gives way to increasingly opaque and alarming realizations of their complicated futures. There is an ocean that sits between teen spirit and young adulthood, and this is a film that thrives by deep-diving that space.

The honesty and distinction with which it comes to life makes Stabley's film a triumph by any definition; Everlasting is an intense and nuanced indie gem.