Freudenthal’s creative approach to direction and Plummer’s raw performance bring Adam’s inner world to life with stunning effect in Words on Bathroom Walls, streaming on November 6.
For many years, Hollywood demonised various mental health conditions ranging from schizophrenia to personality disorder, depression and bipolar disorder. These conditions would find themselves linked to characters who would go on to murder or harm others while encouraging and enhancing a public fear of mental health.
However, in recent years, this damaging stigma and oppression have begun to change, with filmmakers embracing the opportunity to put the record straight while attempting to rewrite the mistrust and hate once sewn through celluloid. It could be argued that this cinematic shift truly started with Good Will Hunting in 1997. Therefore, it is no surprise that this film finds itself referenced in Thor Freudenthal’s Words on Bathroom Walls, based on the young adult novel by Julia Walton.
As the film opens, young Adam (Charlie Plummer) explains that his doctors initially viewed his condition as a visual defect, his deep green eyes deceiving him into seeing mists, shadows, and objects. But Adam always knew these strange visions were something more, even when he attempted to convince himself otherwise. He quickly learnt to control the images and voices that swirled around him through an unlikely source: cooking. Adam’s kitchen was his refuge and fortress as he dreamed of becoming a world-renowned chef. However, as the visions and voices increased, it became increasingly challenging for him to control the world around him.
Freudenthal’s creative approach to direction and Plummer’s raw performance bring Adam’s inner world to life with stunning effect. It is here where Adam’s own words summarise the film’s essential questions and conversations on mental health: “It’s hard to let someone find you in all the dark and twisty places inside, but eventually, you have to hope that they do, because that’s the beginning of everything.”
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