Every Day (2018 film)

Lore & Background

The film follows 'A', a traveling spirit who experiences every day in the body of a different teenager. One day, A wakes up in the body of Justin, the neglectful boyfriend of Rhiannon. A and Rhiannon skip school together, and A falls in love with her as she confides her troubled home life. The next day, Justin has reverted to his old self, and A continues to appear in new bodies to be close to Rhiannon, eventually revealing their nature to her. Rhiannon agrees to continue meeting A, and they navigate the challenges of a relationship where A changes bodies daily. The story culminates in A realizing they cannot hold Rhiannon back from a normal life, and they part on a 'nice note'.

Reader's Guide

Every Day is notable for its exploration of identity and love beyond physical appearance, adapting David Levithan's novel for a teen audience. The film received mixed critical reviews, with a 64% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 52 out of 100, indicating mixed or average reviews. Critics noted that while the diverse young cast added flavor, the metaphysical premise was wasted on shallow storytelling. Audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore. The film grossed $10.4 million worldwide against a reported $10 million promotional spend. Its release date was shifted multiple times before settling on February 23, 2018. In the UK, four seconds were cut from the film to achieve a 12A certificate, removing images of suicide methods.

Did You Know?

• The film's promotional budget has not been publicly confirmed by reliable sources.
• In the United Kingdom, four seconds were removed from the film to achieve a 12A certificate, trimming a scene depicting self-harm (specifically a character cutting their wrists).

A Story Told Through Shifting Bodies

The narrative of Every Day centers on a spirit called A who, since infancy, has awakened each morning inside a different teenager's body. When A first appears as Justin, Rhiannon's neglectful boyfriend, she convinces the girl to skip school, and the two form a deep connection over a single day. Rhiannon opens up about her father's mental breakdown and the family's financial struggles, while A hints that tomorrow will bring a different face. The story then follows A's repeated attempts to reach Rhiannon through a rotating cast of bodies—Amy, Nathan, Megan, James, and others—each encounter deepening their bond. A pivotal scene in the body of transgender teen Vic crystallizes the film's central argument: what matters is the soul, not the vessel. The relationship intensifies when A briefly inhabits Rhiannon's own body, bonding with her family. After a harrowing day in the body of suicidal Kelsea, whom Rhiannon helps keep alive, and a temporary stay in Alexander's body, A decides to release Rhiannon so she can live a normal life. Their final night circles back to the "nice note" Rhiannon once told Justin, and the next morning A drives away in Katie's body while Rhiannon walks into school as Alexander.

Creative Team and Production

MGM acquired the film rights to David Levithan's 2012 novel in June 2017, immediately attaching Angourie Rice to the lead role of Rhiannon. The screenplay was penned by Jesse Andrews, the writer behind Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and the helm was given to director Michael Sucsy. By July 2017, the remaining principal cast was locked in, with Justice Smith, Debby Ryan, and Maria Bello joining the ensemble, and Owen Teague added shortly thereafter. Principal photography took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, running from July 6 through August 12, 2017—a roughly five-week shoot that had to capture the film's shifting-body premise across numerous locations and a large supporting cast. The production's relatively compact timeline and the decision to film in a major Canadian city rather than a U.S. location reflect the practical logistics of staging a story in which the protagonist's physical appearance changes daily. The creative pairing of Andrews' sharp, character-driven writing with Sucsy's warm romantic-drama sensibility shaped the film's tone, blending metaphysical fantasy with the grounded emotional concerns of a sixteen-year-old navigating family hardship and first love.

A Bumpy Road to Theaters

The release schedule for Every Day proved as unpredictable as its protagonist's daily body shifts. Orion Pictures, distributing the film on behalf of MGM, initially targeted a wide theatrical release on February 2, 2018. That date was then pushed back to April 27, before the studio ultimately moved the premiere up to February 23, 2018. The marketing push behind the film carried a budget of roughly ten million dollars. In the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Classification granted the film a 12A certificate, but only after four seconds of footage depicting suicide methods were trimmed from the final cut. At the box office, the film opened in 1,667 theaters alongside Game Night and Annihilation. Projections had called for two to four million dollars in its first weekend, and Every Day delivered $3.1 million, landing in ninth place. Over its full domestic run it collected $6.1 million in the United States and Canada, with another $4.3 million from international markets, for a worldwide total of $10.4 million—modest figures that suggest the film struggled to find its audience in a crowded February release window.

Reception: Mixed Reviews and a Cult Whisper

Critics offered a divided verdict on Every Day. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits at a 64 percent approval rating across 64 reviews, with an average score of 5.7 out of 10. The site's consensus acknowledges the diverse young cast as a bright spot while criticizing the storytelling as shallow relative to its metaphysical premise. Metacritic's weighted average of 52 out of 100, drawn from eleven critics, lands squarely in mixed or average territory. Audience responses were somewhat warmer: CinemaScore polled a B+ average grade, and PostTrak reported a 64 percent positive score with a 39 percent definite-recommend figure. One notable outlier in the critical landscape came from Peter Bradshaw, who described the film as a quirky work overlooked by mainstream media gatekeepers and suggested it might grow into a future cult classic. That assessment captures a recurring sentiment among fans who feel the film's unconventional romance and its message about identity transcending physical appearance deserve a wider appreciation than its modest box-office numbers and middling review scores might suggest.

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