Depressed 18-year-old student Jay (Jordan Dulieu) has had enough of life. When the attempt at taking his own life gets stopped abruptly by a bystander, his socialite parents become suspicious of his every move, completely out of touch with their son’s inner thought process. Inveterate 28-year-old world traveller Liz (Freyja Benjamin) cannot get enough of it. Liz lands in Sydney for her latest adventure backpacking the globe. Serendipity hangs in the air and Jay & Liz meet, creating a strong connection ready to test both young souls when Liz finds out she’s seriously sick.
Directed by Nadi Sha and shot on location in Sydney, Everything in Between is a compassionate drama that isn’t afraid to ask the viewer to look beyond the obvious. It’s reminiscent of films such as The Fault in Our Stars, but finds its own identity by keeping the story grounded as it explores the more spiritual side of Liz’s personality.
The writing isn’t as articulate as Sha’s direction, but the acting from most of the cast surely makes up for that. Dulieu fully embraces his character’s struggles, expressing his thought process through subtle mannerisms and facial expressions, whereas Martin Crewes (Resident Evil)and Gigi Edgley (Feud), who play his on screen parents are both showcasing their talent as complete opposites struggling with their own shortcomings as partners and parents. While Freyja Benjamin is definitely competent as an artist who understands her craft, though I wasn’t entirely convinced by some of the decisions she made embodying her character’s struggles. I don’t believe it was ever made entirely clear where Liz originally was from, but her accent was all over the place, which often took me out of some powerful scenes.
Sha definitely has an eye for talent and knows the direction they want to take. Everything in Between isn’t entirely original and doesn’t go as deep as I personally would’ve liked it to have gone, but it does make you symphatize for those struggling with their inner demons.
Reviewed online (screener provided by publicist), October 23, 2022. Running time: 90 min.
PRODUCTION: A Sha Pictures Pty production. Producers: Grant Osborn & Nadi Sha. Executive producers: James Ajaka, Serge Lacroix, Odilla O’Boyle & Dylan Russell.
CREW: Director: Nadi Sha. Writers: Nadi Sha & Grant Osborn. Editing: Adrian Powers & Nicholas Ralph. Music: Tom Pastro.
CAST: Jordan Dulieu, Freyja Benjamin, Gigi Edgley, Martin Crewes, Siham Yahya & Benjamin Mathews.