You remember that feeling. The slow, rhythmic build of a synth-pop track, the visual of a girl staring through a glass pane, and that immediate, gut-punch realization that you’re about to watch a story about the literal impossibility of touch. When the Everything Everything film trailer first dropped in early 2017, it didn't just market a movie. It tapped into a very specific, crystalline vein of teenage yearning that most Young Adult adaptations usually miss by a mile.
It’s weird looking back now.
Amandla Stenberg was already a star, but this was different. She played Maddy Whittier, a girl with SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Basically, she’s allergic to the world. Then comes Nick Robinson as Olly, the boy next door with the skateboards and the dark clothes. It sounds like a trope. Honestly, it is a trope. But the trailer sold it as something more ethereal.
The marketing team at Warner Bros. and MGM knew exactly what they were doing. They weren't just selling a romance; they were selling an aesthetic. If you go back and watch that first Everything Everything film trailer, you’ll notice the color palette is aggressively intentional. White walls. Sterile glass. Then, pops of green and ocean blue that represent the "outside." It’s a visual representation of a fever dream.
The Song That Made the Everything Everything Film Trailer Iconic
Music makes or breaks a trailer. Period.
For Everything Everything, they didn't go for a generic orchestral swell. They used "Runnin' (Lose It All)" by Naughty Boy featuring Beyoncé and Arrow Benjamin. It was a masterstroke. The lyrics—“Where else can I go? / Chasing you, chasing you”—perfectly mirrored Maddy’s physical confinement and her emotional sprint toward Olly.
Music supervisor Season Kent has talked before about how crucial the "vibe" is for these YA adaptations. You can’t just throw a Top 40 hit in there and hope it sticks. It has to feel like the heartbeat of the character. When that beat drops in the Everything Everything film trailer, and we see Maddy and Olly pressing their hands against the glass, it’s a sensory overload.
I’ve seen dozens of these trailers. The Fault in Our Stars, Five Feet Apart, Paper Towns. Most of them lean heavily into the "dying kid" narrative. What made this specific trailer stand out was that it felt like a thriller-romance hybrid. It posed a question: Is Maddy actually sick, or is something else going on?
Visual Storytelling Without Saying a Word
Director Stella Meghie brought a specific Black girl magic to the framing that wasn't present in Nicola Yoon's book in the same way. The trailer highlights Maddy’s imagination. We see her in an astronaut suit. We see her underwater. These aren't literal scenes; they're her headspace.
Using these "imagination beats" in the Everything Everything film trailer served a dual purpose. First, it broke up the monotony of her white, circular bedroom. Second, it told the audience that this wasn't going to be a depressing slog. It was going to be a vibrant, colorful exploration of a girl’s mind.
The chemistry between Stenberg and Robinson was the engine. You can fake a lot of things in post-production, but you can’t fake that specific type of "I’m looking at you through a window and I’m losing my mind" energy. The trailer focused heavily on their text conversations—rendered as if they were in the same room together—which was a clever way to handle the "screen-time" problem that plagues modern adaptations.
The Viral Impact and Why We Still Search for It
Why are we still talking about a trailer from 2017?
Part of it is nostalgia. But the other part is how it handled the "twist." If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, the Everything Everything film trailer does a surprisingly good job of teasing the conflict without giving away the massive reveal regarding Maddy’s mother (played by Anika Noni Rose).
It created a "must-see" urgency. Social media metrics at the time showed a massive spike in engagement among the Gen Z demographic, largely because the trailer felt "Tumblr-coded"—high contrast, moody lighting, and deep emotional stakes. It was the peak of the "Sick-Lit" era, yet it felt cleaner and more sophisticated than its peers.
Breaking Down the Trailer Structure
If you watch it frame-by-frame, the pacing is actually quite chaotic in a good way.
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- The Hook: Maddy explains her condition. 17 years in a house. No outside air.
- The Inciting Incident: A moving truck. Olly appears. He’s wearing all black. He’s the "disruptor."
- The Escalation: The windows. The texting. The realization that "everything is a risk."
- The Climax: Maddy walking out the front door. The music peaks.
- The Tag: A quiet moment of intimacy.
This 2 minute and 30 second journey is a masterclass in condensed storytelling. It’s why the Everything Everything film trailer garnered millions of views within 24 hours of its release. It promised a world where love was literally a death sentence, and in the world of teenage cinema, that’s pure gold.
Critics like those at The Hollywood Reporter noted that the film’s marketing leaned heavily on Stenberg’s rising profile. Coming off The Hunger Games, she was the perfect face for a story about rebellion—even if that rebellion was just breathing outside air.
What the Trailer Got Right (and Wrong) About the Movie
Let’s be real for a second. Sometimes a trailer is better than the movie.
In the case of Everything Everything, the trailer sold a very high-concept, almost sci-fi version of the story. The movie itself is a bit more grounded and, frankly, a bit more of a standard romance. Some fans felt the trailer over-indexed on the "thriller" elements. However, it successfully brought in an audience that might have otherwise skipped a "mushy" romance.
The trailer also highlighted the architectural beauty of Maddy’s house. That house is a character in itself. Modern, cold, and transparent. It’s a literal glass cage. By showcasing the house so prominently in the Everything Everything film trailer, the editors made sure the audience felt Maddy's claustrophobia.
Practical Takeaways for Fans and Filmmakers
If you’re looking back at this trailer today, there are a few things you can actually do to appreciate the craft behind it or dive deeper into the story.
- Watch the "Texting" Sequences: Notice how the trailer portrays digital communication. It doesn't just show a phone screen; it puts the characters in a shared physical space. This is a great lesson for any aspiring filmmaker on how to handle "the boring parts" of modern life.
- Listen to the Soundtrack: Go find the official soundtrack on Spotify or Apple Music. It’s not just Beyoncé; it features Kehlani, Anderson .Paak, and Alabama Shakes. The trailer was just the tip of the iceberg for a very well-curated sonic experience.
- Compare to the Book: If you haven't read Nicola Yoon’s novel, do it. The book uses diagrams, medical logs, and doodles. The Everything Everything film trailer tried to capture this "multimedia" feel through its editing style.
- Check out the Director’s Other Work: Stella Meghie has a very specific eye for romance and color. Watching her later film The Photograph (2020) shows the evolution of the style she hinted at in this trailer.
The Everything Everything film trailer remains a benchmark for how to market a YA adaptation. It didn't treat its audience like kids. It treated them like people who understood that sometimes, the biggest risk isn't dying—it's not actually living.
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Whether you're revisiting it for the 100th time or just curious about why it’s still a trending topic in film circles, the trailer stands as a perfect capsule of 2010s cinema. It’s moody, it’s beautiful, and it’s a little bit dangerous.
For the most authentic experience, watch the trailer again on a high-definition screen with good headphones. Pay attention to the sound design—the way the world outside sounds muffled and distant until Maddy finally opens that door. That’s not an accident; that’s expert storytelling. If you're looking to understand the "Sick-Lit" genre's peak, this is exactly where you start. Check out the official Warner Bros. YouTube channel to find the highest-quality version of the Everything Everything film trailer and see if it still gives you those same chills it did years ago.