Subversive, icky and incessantly spellbinding, writer-director Anthony Stabley operates artistically well in Everlasting, essentially untangling a story of tragic first love while exploring the often unsavory and specious modeling business that plagues Los Angeles. This isn’t about beauty or modeling, however, Everlasting is a raw depiction of a love now lost to society – a rather debilitated love now torn completely to shreds by the grubby hands of those whose intentions are corrupted and impure.
It’s a mystery drama/thriller following a teen’s perspective on the death of his girlfriend, who, after three months of living the dream in Los Angeles, was murdered. And developing a cinematic voice that lingers in the realm of reality, Everlasting is anything but passive; it’s perpetually moving and evincing its empathy and heartache in subtle strives.
High School Filmmaker Matt (Adam David) is tasked to create an end-of-the-year senior year project, highlighting whatever he wants, as long as the piece is genuine and truthful. Filmed in documentary-esque style, Matt is generating a video project examining his girlfriend Jessie’s (Valentina de Angelis) cruel yet cryptic death while she was chasing her modeling career in Los Angeles. Four months have passed since Jessie’s death, and no evidence or answers regarding her death has been unveiled, ultimately rendering her case cold. Harnessing his filmmaking skills and determined to seek the truth, a frustrated and dolorous Matt ventures to L.A. to try to uncover what happened to Jessie, and expose the killer once-and-for-all.
Piecing together a non-linear story structure, Everlasting leaps all over the timeline and compiles video clips, memories and hard-edged snippets of (the character’s) reality to properly enlarge all of the storytelling elements, fueling the intended purpose of the picture. What could have been a shoddy or enervating narrative structure and technical arrangement (speaking as most of the camerawork is hand-held), happens to showcase a largely alluring, if still disturbing tale encompassing a genuine image of love, while unraveling the unforeseen rhythm of life and how it can end in a mere flicker, for no reason at all.
Fleeting Love, Bitter Desire
Everlasting does delineate the modest yet palpable love between Matt and Jessie in a manner that’s gradual and earnest. Granted, the relationship between Matt and Jessie is illustrated as some kind of gothic, keenly sensitive bond that’s kindled by the darkest and most starkly structured perceptions and practices found in life. Jessie is a vivacious teen who dresses provocatively and exudes a brusque attitude — condemning authority and yearning for unorthodox pleasures, which discomforts Matt. She’s the recalcitrant rebel, searching for herself and what her mom (and life in general) can’t give her: bliss.
Matt is the artsy goth-esque type, reserved and fretful, but discovering that he really does love Jessie. However, Jessie’s ill-advised comportment and frivolous attitude worries Matt, predominantly because Jessie’s insecurities are revealed through her obsession to be hit or choked while having intercourse. In a way, Jessie believes she deserves pain; she believes love should be more demanding and painful than it appears to be when she’s with Matt. They hang out by graves and fantasize about murder, but they’re both capable of authentic love — which elevates Matt’s escapade to find Jessie’s murderer all the more intriguing.
Jessie prepares to move to L.A. to fulfill her dream of becoming a model, leaving Matt more dubious and anxious about their future. Both scathed by jealousy and their carnal cravings, their love almost seems to be transient, a casualty of distance and personal aspiration. Jessie wants to escape her mom who doesn’t approve of her image, and what better place to use your body for a career based on self-image and physique than L.A. itself. A lustrous, slightly ethereal city built on acquired dreams and promises, while basically concealing the millions of shattered dreams that lie beneath the surface. Against his own fears, Matt does tag along on Jessie’s trip, and guides Jessie through the arresting landscapes that span ahead while on their journey from Denver to Los Angeles. Because the locations are cruxes of natural beauty, the journey to L.A. is the calm before the storm.
The scouting locations are vast and gorgeous, painting the entire trip an aesthetically pleasing one, that just so happens to lead to a brutal murder and a desolate and vengeful Matt. Stabley knows how to tinker with hand-held camerawork in a fashion that doesn’t feel timeworn. The documentary-esque coloring of the film procures emotional gravity, which arranges the despondency of Matt in a direction that’s tactile and subdued — truly manifesting the habile performance from Adam David. Angelis first struggles to naturally emanate her character’s defiance and individuality, but as the movie progresses, she becomes the perfect persona as the reticent girl, simply trying to find her place and a podium to express herself, but at what cost?
Jessie joins the modeling business successfully, but a few close-up shots imply even more unhappiness. Distance relationships are hazardous, you have to proceed with caution, and the romantic spark between Matt and Jessie is diminishing due to Jessie’s ambition to work on being happy instead of contemplating the separation between her and Matt. The distance between them is an obstacle from the past, reminding her of euphoric times that are no longer beneficial to her future — but it’s always important to look back and reminisce on the good old days. Woefully, Jessie doesn’t have a future.
The Horrors of Today
Despite being marketed as a mystery thriller or even a horror movie, Everlasting isn’t so much about the barbarity embedded in Jessie’s demise, or even how Matt goes about to unmask the killer, it’s about the relationship and the plausibility of the story. The death of Jessie is treated as a tragedy and maybe even a cautionary tale on a young person’s lack of perception on a world they are still trying to comprehend; it keeps its narrative roots in reality. The world is infested with darkness and individuals who are inherently vile, and what Stabley really achieves with his directorial debut is bluntly conveying the sheer meaninglessness and inanity of Jessie’s death: she was just another victim of a sickening murderer, driven by the most asinine or ill-defined motivations.
Everlasting is awfully bleak and repulsive, yet, the fractured narrative pulls you in, even when the suspense fails to leave an indelible mark. The paucity of tension undervalues the import of Matt’s journey to confront (and potentially eradicate) the murderer, lightly evaluating a blemished state of mind and neglecting to unscramble all of the depth tailored to Matt’s drive. The atmosphere should be trepidatious and grating, but Stabley stumbles to exhibit the physical horror Matt is facing during the insanely brisk conclusion, which lacks a tangible essence of terror while also ending things far too neatly. Looking past the flimsy tension and swift conclusion, the real horror of Everlasting reveals itself in the story, and how odious occurrences like this are common in society, as despairing and forlorn as that may be.
Everlasting: Visually Impressive Mystery Stays True to Reality
Everlasting had every chance to incorporate an inflated twist or a piquant storytelling maneuver to add some flavor, but Stabley would rather indulge viewers with a forthright and, based on its subject matter, an equanimous tale of romance and murder that resonates a lot with modern society. Jon Bickford‘s cinematography wonderfully helps distinguish the point in the timeline and elicit the emotions of a scene (using a pale, spectral color to show audiences the modern-day, while using brighter light to radiate the gradually deteriorating purity of Matt and Jessie’s love). The suspense may be underplayed, while the narration is not necessarily needed when the film does a solid job visually portraying everything, there’s still enterprise weaved in the execution.
Meshing together enticing locations, a fitting score, two adept leads and a purposeful lens on violence and a fugacious (and acutely tragic) first love, Everlasting may not be the tension-fueled thriller insinuated at in the first moments of the film, but it’s still a worthy indie that’ll keep you glued to the screen. Despite being given the information of Jessie’s death in the introduction, the film will have you anticipating a “perfect” or “happy” ending when we already know reality is far from being ideal. Don’t go into Everlasting looking for an escape from reality. Now that’s a major compliment.
What is your favorite mystery drama/thriller? Why is it important for movies, especially mysteries, to reflect (even a shred of) reality in their narratives/execution? What do real-life topics or occurrences bring to the table?
Everlasting is available on every available VOD and digital platform to rent/buy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZqus6JLLtE
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