Words on Bathroom Walls Review: A Beautiful Teenage Mind

 

Release date: August 21, 2020
Running time: 111 minutes 

Starring: Charlie Plummer, Taylor Russell, AnnaSophia Robb, Walton Goggins, Andy Garcia 

A teenager coping with paranoid schizophrenia hopes his new experimental drug treatment will help him navigate high school and the outside world.  Adam (Plummer) starts out at a new school with the help of the new experimental drug, with the hopes of getting his diploma and going on to culinary school.  However, when the side effects of the drug affect his mood and ability to do the things he loves, he decides to forge his own path.  Trying to hide his illness while experiencing life, he runs into challenges and obstacles, including how to open up to Maya (Russell).  

Prefacing this review with the statement that I have no idea what schizophrenia would be like, nor can I begin to imagine how difficult it is to go through, Words on Bathroom Walls has an interesting way to represent it.  It is similar to the way it was represented in A Beautiful Mind, with certain characters in Adam's head appearing and talking to him as if they were in the real world (there is also a wonderful reference to A Beautiful Mind towards the end of the movie that I really appreciated).  They interact as if they were people, even affecting his mood and actions, but they appear and disappear suddenly.  And generally, they represent slightly polar opposite ideas; a literal angel and demon on his shoulders communicating with him.  To represent his paranoid side, there is also a dark, more obscured persona that whispers some of the darker thoughts he has into his ear.  

Melding all of these together would be difficult for any actor and director, but Words on Bathroom Walls does it relatively seamlessly.  That is in part due to Plummer's portrayal.  He has a very strong performance as Adam, and his character has to go through several moods and several different personas to pull this off.  It is a really emotional story and one that Plummer handles perfectly.  I also greatly enjoyed Andy Garcia as a priest who comes in and out of Adam's life.  He is not so much a "hip" priest as you might expect in some movies, but he is more understanding of Adam and doesn't judge him or his actions.  In fact, the whole cast in Words on Bathroom Walls are well cast and acted.  Adam's parents (played by Molly Parker and Walton Goggins) are supportive but also show the weight that Adam's illness has on them.  There is one vulnerable scene towards the middle that felt very real for the effect on the entire family that this illness could have.  And Russell is great as Adam's friend at school, though I wish she had more screen time.

The story is good with plenty of emotional ups and downs, however, the movie does seem to resolve itself a little too conveniently and quickly.  It does a good job of exploring schizophrenia only to have a resolution in your typical, young adult movie way.  And although there aren't a lot of effects, the CG can feel out of place and can be distracting when used.  But the movie overall does a good job of portraying a scary condition, and of showing that sometimes the way to help someone is through caring and understanding.

Words on Bathroom Walls portrays a complicated illness through strong performances and good lessons about family, love, growth, and pain.  

Watch it.

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