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IMDbPro

Words on Bathroom Walls

  • 20202020
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 1h 50m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
10K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,520
39
Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
A teenager coping with paranoid schizophrenia hopes his new experimental drug treatment will help him navigate high school and the outside world.
Play trailer2:31
3 Videos
28 Photos
DramaRomance
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... Read allDiagnosed 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 not be defined by his condition.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 not be defined by his condition.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
10K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,520
39
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • Thor Freudenthal
    • Writers
      • Nick Naveda(screenplay by)
      • Julia Walton(based on the book by)
    • Stars
      • Charlie Plummer
      • Andy Garcia
      • Taylor Russell
    Top credits
    • Director
      • Thor Freudenthal
    • Writers
      • Nick Naveda(screenplay by)
      • Julia Walton(based on the book by)
    • Stars
      • Charlie Plummer
      • Andy Garcia
      • Taylor Russell
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 116User reviews
    • 82Critic reviews
    • 61Metascore
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations

    Videos3

    Watch Trailer
    Trailer 2:31
    Watch Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:26
    Official Trailer
    Words on Bathroom Walls
    Trailer 3:26
    Words on Bathroom Walls

    Photos28

    Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Walton Goggins and Charlie Plummer in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Molly Parker and Charlie Plummer in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Walton Goggins and Charlie Plummer in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Charlie Plummer in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Andy Garcia in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Charlie Plummer in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Taylor Russell in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)
    Charlie Plummer and Taylor Russell in Words on Bathroom Walls (2020)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Charlie Plummer
    Charlie Plummer
    • Adam
    Andy Garcia
    Andy Garcia
    • Father Patrick
    Taylor Russell
    Taylor Russell
    • Maya
    AnnaSophia Robb
    AnnaSophia Robb
    • Rebecca
    Beth Grant
    Beth Grant
    • Sister Catherine
    Devon Bostick
    Devon Bostick
    • Joaquin
    Lobo Sebastian
    Lobo Sebastian
    • Bodyguard
    Molly Parker
    Molly Parker
    • Beth
    Walton Goggins
    Walton Goggins
    • Paul
    Aaron Dominguez
    Aaron Dominguez
    • Todd
    Reinaldo Faberlle
    Reinaldo Faberlle
    • Manuel
    Jeris Donovan
    • Woman
    Iain Tucker
    Iain Tucker
    • Ahole Teenager
    Sean Michael Weber
    Sean Michael Weber
    • Paramedic
    Drew Scheid
    Drew Scheid
    • Ted
    Anthony J. Police
    Anthony J. Police
    • Security Guard
    Ellie Dusek
    Ellie Dusek
    • Saccharine Girl
    Blaque Fowler
    Blaque Fowler
    • Homeless Man
    • Director
      • Thor Freudenthal
    • Writers
      • Nick Naveda(screenplay by)
      • Julia Walton(based on the book by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Molly Parker and Taylor Russell play mother and daughter on Lost in Space (2018).
    • Goofs
      Near the ending of the film, Adam is placed on suicide watch at a mental hospital after attempting suicide. The writers show that the mother is unable to bring toothpicks in for a dish she is bringing to Adam. The room Adam is in, however, has clearly exposed electrical sockets and even an easily breakable ceramic lamp, none of which would be located in the room of someone on suicide watch. Patients generally are kept from electrocuting themselves or cutting themselves on broken glass.
    • Quotes

      Adam: Being ambiguous doesn't make you profound, it makes you full of shit.

    • Connections
      Features Never Been Kissed (1999)
    • Soundtracks
      On the Ball Field
      Written by David Newman

      Performed by David Newman

      Published by Fox Film Music Corp. (BMI)

      Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

    User reviews116

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Exhibits restraint and uses humor to lighten the mood
    In German director Thor Freudenthal's deeply-moving Words on Bathroom Walls, high-school student Adam Petrazelli played by Charlie Plummer, lives in a world without silence. Diagnosed as schizophrenic, the voices in his head never stop, interfering with his ability to function and endangering his need to graduate from high school and fulfill his dream of going to culinary school. Written by Nick Naveda from a young adult novel of the same name by Julia Walton, the film is framed by Adam's own narration. Speaking to an unseen and unheard psychiatrist, Adam takes us into his confidence as he talks about his life and its daily challenges. Portrayed as real life characters, the mostly benign voices are Rebecca (AnnaSophia Robb), a young free-thinking girl, Joaquin , a romantically-obsessed teenager, and an unnamed brutish-looking bodyguard who carries a bat and smokes a cigar.

    Freudenthal uses special effects when required such as showing the contents of a room swirling around as if caught in a tornado and Adam's vision of an office being consumed by fire. Though a few scenes indulge in familiar clichés of the genre, for the most part the film exhibits restraint, showing compassion for Adam's struggles and using humor to lighten the mood. Adam loves to cook and dreams about owning his own restaurant. At first, he dismisses his love for cooking, telling us it's a distraction but ultimately acknowledges that when he is cooking, "Everything disappears and I get to be exactly who I want to be."

    Unfortunately, a meltdown at a high school chemistry lab that causes injury to another student leads to his expulsion and the decision to enroll him in a strict Catholic school. His acceptance, however, comes with the condition that he maintains an A- average and continues to take his medications which he claims makes him feel worse. When Adam is being interviewed by the nun who heads up his new school, we hear him passively give the answers he thinks she wants to hear but his doubts about whether he can meet the imposed conditions are written on his face.

    Meeting Maya (Taylor Russell), a young student at the new school slated to be the school valedictorian, however, brings a renewed sense of optimism for Adam and his mom and stepdad. Seeking additional support, Adam finds a shoulder to lean on in Father Patrick (Andy Garcia). Though he tells the priest that he does not believe in God, Father Patrick's calming manner and gentle humor allows Adam to feel safe enough to talk about his struggles without fear of reprisal. The relationship between Maya and Adam, both with their own vulnerabilities and secrets to protect, elevates Words on Bathroom Walls to a new level of authenticity, but the truth of their circumstances cannot be hidden forever and is sadly revealed during the school prom.

    Both Plummer and Russell deliver magnetic performances, and their chemistry gives their characters depth and believability. The characters of Parker and Goggins, however, are not well drawn and barely come alive as real human beings but it does not detract from the film's impact. As Adam attempts to come to terms with schizophrenia, Freudenthal wants to show that he deserves as much sympathy and caring as anyone else struggling with a debilitating illness. In a key moment, Adam says that teens with cancer are shown more compassion and patience. But for those with schizophrenia, "people can't wait to make you someone else's problem, no one wants to grant our wishes."

    Do love, support, and self-acceptance cure schizophrenia? No, and the film never suggests that it does, but only that it can help. Freudenthal says he hopes his film can be a "generator of empathy." The next time, he says that "we encounter someone with the illness, we encounter them as a human first . . . Seeing everyone as equal and seeing people as sort of suffering from an illness other than being the illness." Words on Bathroom Walls is a film for those who know what it feels like to exist in a world at odds with your deepest longings for connection and belonging. It is a film that can make you feel that you have found a kindred spirit.
    helpful•7
    0
    • howard.schumann
    • Apr 10, 2021

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 21, 2020 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Palabras en las paredes del baño
    • Filming locations
      • Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
    • Production companies
      • Kick the Habit Productions
      • LD Entertainment
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $2,542,518
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $432,968
      • Aug 23, 2020
    • Gross worldwide
      • $3,151,849
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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