NR | 1h 33m | Documentary, Biography, Nature | 2025
About the only thing wrong with “Every Little Thing,” the new documentary from Australian director Sally Aitken is its release date—early January. Having only screened at a handful of 2024 festivals, the movie should have come out this past fall, where it would have surely garnered multiple award considerations. Had I seen “Every Little Thing” even as recently as two weeks ago, it would have easily made my 2024 Top 10 list.
The films gets its title from a lyric contained in the 1977 Bob Marley song “Three Little Birds,” which plays over the end credits. On its surface, the movie is a human interest story about Terry Masear, a Los Angeles-based woman who cares for injured and abused hummingbirds.
A Labor of Love
Based on what little I know about real estate, Masear’s home and considerable amount of surrounding property would easily be worth in excess of $20 million. A Wisconsin native, Masear (who lives alone) has no paying job, no stated outside monetary donations, and grew up in poverty. I soon wondered how in the world she could afford such a lifestyle. In a very roundabout way, Aitken eventually provides us with an answer and does so to great effect in carefully placed dribs and drabs.About an hour of the 93-minute running time focuses on Masear and her interaction with the tiny creatures in her care. Half of the remainder shows up in the form of archival still photos and home movies dating from her childhood to what looks like her early 40s.
Another roughly 15 minutes of the movie includes spectacularly photographed, time-lapse and sped-up clips of just some of the many varieties of exotic flora occupying Masear’s estate. The nectar of these flowers provides a third of the diet of hummingbirds; the remainder subsists of insects and provided sugar water.
Hypnotic and Calming
As with the cash-flow mystery, the old photos, and home movies, Aitken adroitly weaves the flower passages throughout the entirely of the film, which results in something oddly alluring, hypnotic, and calming. As informative as the movie’s content is, the stylistic narrative is equally enthralling and greatly resembles a mainstream friendly art film. As low-budget documentaries go, “Every Little Thing” far exceeds any and all possible visual expectations.Sporting a minimalist background musical score composed by Caitlin Yeo, the accompanying audio components are equally integral and rewarding. The hummingbird gets its name from the sounds produced by the flapping of their wings, which range from between 12 and 200 beats per second. It is because of this rapidity that, to the naked eye (and ear and film lens), the birds can appear to be still while in midair flight.
I knew going in that hummingbirds are the only animals that can fly backwards, but didn’t know they can also fly in any direction including vertically, sideways, and upside down. The smallest of the over 350 different species, called a “bee,” can weigh as little as two grams, and the largest, or “giant,” up to 24 grams. The birds featured in the movie average four grams, and are about the size of an adult human thumb.
Although hummingbirds are rarely full-time domesticated pets, they are highly sociable, are warmly receptive to human interaction, and are nonconfrontational when it comes to physical contact. For the duration of the movie, Masear holds the birds in her palm without any type of recoil or resistance, and they remain stationary while she bathes, mends, and feeds them.
Bird Whisperer
Her lilting and soft speaking voice renders Masear a de facto “bird whisperer.” She refers to a dedicated indoor portion of her home as the “ICU,” the place where new arrivals receive their initial care and also where the chances of survival are determined. The outdoor cages house the birds on the mend where they will remain until she determines they are ready to return to the wild.Masear is clearly a woman who views what she does as a heartfelt mission, and, by all accounts, she’s very good at it. She bonds with these broken animals to the same degree as most dedicated human healthcare professionals view their work, but without any hamstringing financial or time constraints.
She does so because she believes it’s the right thing to do, and she clearly loves it. Masear found her ultimate calling in life and carries it out without any expectation of financial gain or faint, vainglorious praise. We should all be so lucky and blessed to share the same mindset.
