Words on Bathroom Walls

Based on the novel of the same name written by Julia Walton

Movies Drama Romance
111 min     7.8     2020     USA

Overview

Words on Bathroom Walls is the story of an eccentric, witty, and rather arrogant Adam (Charlie Plummer), who lives in his own world. Even though he seems to be a very typical young man – a little untidy because of the raging hormones and intense excitement from the unpredictability of the present and the future – the hero of the film dreams of becoming a chef and strives to fulfill his cherished dream, showing the zeal of an adult and mature man.

A cuisine-obsessed kid tests his new recipes on his mother, and cooking for him is a way to quiet the voices he began hearing a few years ago.

In his last year of study, Adam becomes an unwitting participant in an incident that happened during a chemistry experiment. Because of this, he finds himself in a psychoanalyst's office, who is confident that his patient is suffering from a rare mental illness, schizophrenia.

After the incident, Adam goes to the Catholic Academy, where he will complete his studies. But this becomes extremely difficult for him because of the inability to adapt to changing conditions. The dreamer from the movie Words on Bathroom Walls hopes that he will be able to keep his illness a secret from the new environment until he becomes a professional cook.

Stories about teenagers are compelling their struggles are universal. Adding mental illness to the story provides another level of pressure and confusion. But at its core, Words on Bathroom Walls is a story about what all teenagers want: to be independent, to have satisfying work, and to love and be loved.

Reviews

SWITCH. wrote:
'Words on Bathroom Walls' succeeds by leaning on teen romance tropes to make schizophrenia a digestible topic, thanks to its fantastic cast and engaging narrative. While it's not to be viewed as the defining film on the topic, it's a great jumping-off point to launch a conversation, while being another great teen film about being okay to be different. - Chris dos Santos Read Chris' full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-words-on-bathroom-walls-normalising-schizophrenia-for-the-main-stream
CinemaSerf wrote:
It can be very risky to try to encapsulate schizophrenia into a drama at the best of times, but to try and present it in a teen-friendly way adds an extra dimension to that challenge and that is really quite well handled by Charlie Plummer here. “Adam” lives with his mum on their own after his dad went awol. She (AnnaSophia Robb) already has to deal with having a teenage son, and reconcile that with her new boyfriend  “Paul” (Walton Coggins) just as he starts to succumb to voices in his head, to hallucinations and to behavioural difficulties. They manifest themselves on screen to us as something akin to pixies on his shoulder. These characterisations act as powerfully conflicting visual aides assisting us to begin to slightly comprehend just how his thought processes are being cluttersed and confused by differing inputs that play to his natural insecurities as a teenage boy trying to keep his head above the water. Meantime, the other tributary to this story sees “Maya” (Taylor Russell) quite successfully running a sideline selling school assignment services to those who can’t or won’t do the work themselves. When “Adam” accidentally discovers her activities they start to bond a little and perhaps this can give him enough confidence to address his increasingly disabling condition. It’s emotionally constructed, this drama, and the performances go some way to giving us a beginner’s guide to the sheer trauma for everyone involved when parts of our brain start to malfunction. The use of some simple, vaguely menacing, visual effects help create a sense of the fogginess and confusion this young man faces as he sees, or perceived, his opportunities begin to fade away. This lad wants to be a chef, and can concoct a mean Hollandaise! Sure, it cuts corners and I’m sure plenty of people will find the whole underlying philosophy cheesy and sentimentally simplistic, but as an introduction to one of the last remains taboos for most of us, it serves it’s purpose effectively and invites us to be just a little more aware.

Similar