Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)

Directed by: Thor Freudenthal | 111 minutes | drama | Actors: Charlie Plummer, Taylor Russell, AnnaSophia Robb, Beth Grant, Andy Garcia, Walton Goggins, Molly Parker, Devon Bostick, Drew Scheid, Lobo Sebastian, Evan Whitten, Jared Bankens, Cruz Abelita, Aaron Dominguez

Adam – played endearingly by actor Charlie Plummer (‘Lean on Pete’) – is, at first glance, your average awkward teenager. In ‘Words on Bathroom Walls’ we step into the life of this typical schoolboy. He is in the last year of high school and has a great love for gastronomy. At home he spoils his single mother with impressive dishes. It should come as no surprise that the choice for further education is a culinary university. But Adam feels different from his peers and it is initially suspected that he has an eye condition.

Closer examination reveals that he is battling schizophrenia. As hallucinations intensify, Adam gets into trouble at school and is suspended halfway through his senior year. Fortunately, Adam is allowed to finish his year at a Christian private school, with the strict requirement that he must take medication.
Afraid of embarrassing side effects, Adam doesn’t mind, but Maya (Taylor Russell), a tough and bravado fellow, has a good influence on him. Because of her he feels strengthened in his decision. Adam also receives salutary acclaim from Pastor Patrick, played by Hollywood veteran Andy García. Molly Parker is mainly known as Jacky Sharp from the Netflix hit series “House of Cards” and this time she plays the role of concerned mother Beth.

Beth tries to tell her son that he has an illness, but that schizophrenia doesn’t define him as human. Their bond is strong, but when Beth makes a new boyfriend, Adam loses control of his role in the new family, the voices in his head and his life as an apparently normal boy with urgent dreams for the future. This penetrating story is based on the acclaimed novel written by Julia Walton.

Script writer Nick Naveda (“Say You Will” and “Judi”) opens Adam’s braincase, as it were. A number of colorful characters live there, each with their own influence and views. From a sweet hippie girl, a handsome stoner very reminiscent of Klaus from ‘The Umbrella Academy’, to a cranked-up biker-esque bodyguard who tries to warn and protect Adam from the macabre, destructive internal monologue that swells during his psychosis. Each of them has their own effect on Adam’s actions.

As a spectator you see what Adam takes for truth as soon as his brain begins to cover itself in jet-black suffocating ink during a psychosis. This complex mental illness, which is accompanied by delusions and a seriously disturbed thinking pattern, is visually conveyed in a very evocative and understandable way by the Berlin director Thor Freudenthal (‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’). And it is precisely that understanding that is very important for young adults who today are battling depression and mental imbalance. Unconditional (calf) love, acceptance and hope are intertwined through this and gives a valuable life lesson to ‘Words on Bathroom Walls’; “I used to be schizophrenic but we are okay now”.