Everything Will Be Fine

Made 2 years before the new millennium, Everything Will Be Fine feels like the future. This film is youthful, modern and effortlessly progressive.

Everything Will Be Fine begins when Nabou’s girlfriend, Katja breaks up with her. Nabou doesn’t accept Katja’s rejection. In an effort to win Katja back, Nabou spends a lot of time around her apartment. This is how she meets Kim. Kim is a no-nonsense career woman looking for a house cleaner. Nabou lands the job. Though she’s not particularly good at it. Before Kim can fire her, a misunderstanding ensues. Nabou and Kim are both black. Kim’s boyfriend therefore assumes Nabou is Kim’s sister. Kim wants to keep the ruse going. Nabou agrees to play Kim’s sister for her boyfriend’s stuffy family. But in spending more time together, the two develop decidedly non-sisterly feelings towards one another.

Everything Will Be Fine is absolutely a romantic comedy. Within that structure, it leans a little too hard into the establishing first act. Kim and Nabou don’t get their first romantically tense moment until about an hour in. It’s only in the last half hour that we get the sibling misunderstanding and the potential of romance between the two. This last half hour is pretty strong. There’s comparatively too much buildup beforehand. Kim and Nabou lead very separate lives for the first two thirds. Because they’re so great together, I do wish the film focused more on when they actually started spending time together.

This is a notable film as it is not only a queer film, but a German film starring women of colour. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a German film have two leads of colour before. What works so well about Everything Will Be Fine is how this is handled. Nabou and Kim are very different characters. Nabou is an openly lesbian slacker. Kim is an uptight workaholic. There is more that is different about them than similar. But both still experience racism and micoaggressions. That’s what brings them together. The first common ground they share is this dumb white guy who assumed they’re related. Nabou and Kim’s cultural background is not the be-all end-all of their character. The film walks the line of having them be well-rounded individuals while also showing that their experiences with racism are deeply similar.

The film’s attitude towards queerness is another aspect that feels effortlessly progressive. This is a 1998 film. I would’ve expected a lot of screen time dedicated to questioning sexuality or having to come out. That’s not what happens. Nabou is openly and happily a lesbian when the film opens. And Kim takes to kissing women pretty easily. She has some concerns about how fast the relationship is moving and how this is new. But that’s a minor concern that comes late in the film. Much of it is the two going through standard romantic comedy sexual tension without any double standards regarding their gender. On a personal level, Kim is fine with the idea that she’s bi. Her only concern is how her stuffy office might respond. And her workplace has already been established as a buttoned up, judgmental and downright racist environment.

Everything Will Be Fine has so much energy, enthusiasm and positivity towards the future. It really feels like the racism and mild homophobia Kim and Nabou experience are the last gasps of such attitude. The film feels like it’s made on the cusp of major change. It feels keyed into a very modern attitude. And it does so without feeling like it’s trying too hard. This is a simple, successful romantic comedy. It just happens to star two black women.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

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