Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)

★ 7.8 1h 51m 653 votes IMDb
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Diagnosed with a mental illness halfway through his senior year of high school, a witty, introspective teen struggles to keep it a secret while falling in love with a brilliant classmate who inspires him to open his heart and not be defined by his condition.

Words on Bathroom Walls

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Cast

Charlie Plummer
Charlie Plummer as Adam Age 26 · Poughkeepsie, New York, USA Charlie Faulkner Plummer (born May 24, 1999) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor in short films and made his feature film debut in David Chase's drama Not Fade Away (2012) befor...
Molly Parker
Molly Parker as Beth Age 53 · Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada Molly Parker (born June 30, 1972) is a Canadian actress. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama Kissed (1996). She subsequently...
Walton Goggins
Walton Goggins as Paul Age 54 · Birmingham, Alabama, USA Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including The Shield (2002–08), Justified (2010–2015), Vice Principals (2016–17),...
Andy Garcia
Andy Garcia as Father Patrick Age 70 · Havana, Cuba Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956) is an American actor, director, producer, and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987) alongside Kev...
Taylor Russell
Taylor Russell as Maya Age 31 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Taylor Russell McKenzie (born July 18, 1994) is a Canadian actress and filmmaker. After playing several minor roles, Russell received recognition for starring in the Netflix science fiction series Los...
AnnaSophia Robb
AnnaSophia Robb as Rebecca Age 32 · Denver, Colorado, USA AnnaSophia Robb is an American actress and model, born on December 8, 1993, in Denver, Colorado, USA. The only child of Janet Robb, an interior designer, and David Robb, an architect, AnnaSophia showe...

Audience Reviews

SWITCH. 8/10 Dec 01, 2020
'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 7/10 Feb 21, 2025
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.

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