The Movie: Words On Bathroom Walls
The Director: Thor Freudenthal
The Cast: Charlie Plummer, Andy Garcia, Taylor Russell, AnnaSophia Robb, Beth
Grant, Devon Bostick, Lobo Sebastian, Molly Parker, Walton Goggins
The Story: A teenager coping with paranoid schizophrenia hopes his new
experimental drug treatment will help him navigate high school and the outside
world.
The Review:
Sometimes a movie will hit you in a very personal way and you can't help but
get lost in the story and the emotions and the world the characters are living
in. This movie is adapted by Nick Naveda from a book of the same name that was
written by Julia Walton and the story is just beautifully written, I'm sure
with both writers deserving equal credit. Naveda also wrote and directed a
movie called
Say You Will
that came out a few years ago and both films have such a personal touch to
them like he is pulling the stories and characters straight from his own life
experiences. Tackling subject matter like this, the main character has
schizophrenia has to be challenging to get right and I feel like it was
portrayed in a unique way that really helps to understand how the disease can
affect a person.
Also, take a look at this incredible cast I mean seriously. Charlie Plummer
and Taylor Russell are young, rising stars in the Hollywood landscape and they
definitely lead the way in this film with some really strong performances.
Then you throw in Andy Garcia, Walton Goggins, Molly Parker, and AnnaSophia
Robb and the whole thing gets exponentially better. Honestly, this was a very
strong group effort across the board and I especially enjoyed the team of
actors that make up the voices in Adam's schizophrenic reality. I'm not going
to describe that any further, just know that the story builds the voices out
as allies who have an increasingly dangerous effect on the young man's well
being.
Understanding schizophrenia is a very complicated thing and I love how the
outright stigma and even fear coming from others is boldly addressed in this
movie. If you have schizophrenia, I feel like you will see yourself in this
movie which is amazing because representation is important for everyone. For
anyone who has a friend, family member, or loved one who lives with
schizophrenia, you will also see yourself in this movie and you may look at
that existence a bit differently after you've had a chance to take it all in.
I definitely looked at some of the familiar behaviors in a different light and
I feel like I have a better understanding of what someone is going through as
they navigate this particular illness.
That last paragraph should in no way scare you off from watching this movie as
the story telling isn't nearly as heavy handed as you might take from what I
just talked about. Naveda and director Thor Freudenthal took great care in
making this a fun, emotional, and accessible coming of age story that is also
profoundly unique in the heavy lifting that it also manages to accomplish. The
end result is a movie that has the vibe of high school comedies like
She's All That or Never Been Kissed, which is actually
referenced in the movie, mixed in with the type of subject matter that is
extremely underrepresented.
The Verdict:
Words On Bathroom Walls is a high school romantic comedy, it is a coming of
age family drama, and it is a uniquely brilliant look into the mind of a young man learning to love while living with mental illness. This is a movie I would absolutely recommend.
BONUS INTERVIEW:
Screenwriter Nick Naveda sat down (virtually) with the TwoOhSix.com Podcast to discuss the movie. Nick talks about what it meant to tell this story, how the casting came together, and what he wants people to take away from watching the movie.
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