How Long Is “Everyday”?

Michael Winterbottom's drama tells the story of four children separated from their father, and a wife separated from her husband. The father Ian is in prison. The mother Karen has to bring up a family of four children by herself. Filmed over a period of five years, Everyday uses the repetitions and rhythms of everyday life to explore how a family can survive a prolonged period apart. The story unfolds in a series of visits: first the family visiting the father in prison, later the father visiting the family at home. With each visit the distance between the children and their father becomes harder to bridge. By avoiding the normal cinematic conventions of time passing, Everyday focuses on the small subtle changes as people grow up and grow old while being apart. It is a story of survival and love: a celebration of the small pleasures of everyday life.