Gitti (Birgit Minichmayr) and Chris (Lars Eidinger), a young couple in love in Everyone Else, are vacationing in Sardinia. We're dropped in to observe them, and a few things slowly become evident -- they are clearly attracted to each other and have been together just long enough to be in that "comfortably settled in" phase of a relationship. He's concerned about his career and is a bit humorless and self-absorbed; she's spontaneous, prone to fits of laughter, and has a needy side. Both have insecurities, though it may appear she's more into him than he is into her. They're ensconced in the dynamics of their relationship, though some shifting in perspective occurs when they acquaint themselves with another couple.

Although there's no shortage of relationship stories, Everyone Else is notable for its realism. It could almost be a documentary. There aren't any story contrivances or melodramatic turns; no one even gets overly emotional until close to the end, and even then it's relatively mild. What we watch is the fairly common scenario of two people having fallen in love who are otherwise incompatible, and they are living through a relationship driven by mutual attraction but challenged by unaligned concerns and priorities.

The movie plays fair because anyone watching could easily pick sides and find fault with the other. And you may wonder, "why is this person bothering to stay with so-and-so?" -- and if you do you're merely asking the eternal question. The need to exist in a relationship with someone is a uniquely human experience, and the complications it creates can flummox even the most assured being. Everyone Else is a humble display of all this, striking in its simple relatability regarding one example of an essential universal situation.

(Released by The Cinema Guild; not rated by MPAA.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com.