Words On Bathroom Walls (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, August 21

PG-13 Running Time: 111 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Words on Bathroom Walls is going to be a film some teenagers and young adults revisit over and over again.

  • Charlie Plummer is seemingly the real deal. He is a talented young actor and elevates the material considerably with his performance.

  • For fans who swoon to teen-themed programs on Netflix, the CW, Hulu, and all the rest… Words on Bathroom Walls will be just the next consumable in a long-line of comfort food movies and shows teens are binging nowadays.

NO

  • Teetering on respect and exploitation of schizophrenia, Words on Bathroom Walls seems like a battering ram of mixed messages and offers a convoluted path towards empathy.

  • Maybe I am a cynic, but I can point to a handful of movies that deal with mental illness and struggles in teenage life with far more respect, care, and concern than this one does.

  • If schizophrenia or mental illness is a trigger for you, tread lightly here.


OUR REVIEW

Adapted from a popular 2017 Young Adult novel of the same name by Julia Walton, Words on Bathroom Walls is a verbose, melodramatic story of a teenage boy grappling with the perils of schizophrenia. Held together by a strong performance from Charlie Plummer, the film is full of promise but underwhelms on execution of moments, themes, and ideas.

Plummer stars as Alex, a high school senior with his eyes set on culinary school. Cooking provides focus and confidence, traits frequently challenged by his struggles in balancing multiple personalities within his own mind. Diagnosed in the midst of his senior year, Alex’s schizophrenia is shown to us visually through the appearance of three alternate “Alexes”: Kind and optimistic Rebecca (AnnaSophia Robb), a throwdown nameless bodyguard (Lolo Sebastian), and the perpetually horny teenage boy, Joaquin (Devon Bostick). More on them in a moment…

As Alex navigates his senior year and tries to keep things aligned emotionally and moving forward socially, he becomes close with classmate Maya (Taylor Russell), who instills in him an importance to not be defined by the ailment or voices which plague him.

The themes of empowerment are central to the film, certainly part of the reason why Walton’s novel resonated so richly with readers. Her book, heralded for being frank and honest in its depictions of teenage struggles and experiences, feels subdued in this setting, repurposed into a more encompassing PG-13 world for audiences.

Adapted for the screen by Nick Naveda (Say You Will), Walton’s tale loses a bit of an edge. As a result, director Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) seems stuck between honoring Walton’s prose with a presentation that feels like just another movie popping up about teenage angst, struggle, and melodrama.

Plummer is the standout, proving that he has real talent as a lead performer and makes lemonade out of some scripted sour lemons. Through no fault of the actors depicting Alex’s psychological turmoil, the Alex we see, and that the world sees, strike no real connection to any of the personalities on display. Naveda’s screenplay fails to make us see elements of these characters truly exist within Alex day-by-day, thereby we are unable for the audience to make some necessary connections.

There are nice moments involving Alex and his mother (Molly Parker), and we get a better understanding of where Alex’s stepdad Paul (Walton Goggins) factors into the family dynamic. Plummer and Russell develop nice chemistry together and, though dense with dialogue, Words on Bathroom Walls has sequences which provide emotional heft and gain traction with our emotions.

And yet, something’s missing here. The individual strengths of the film stand alone, never tethering together in a truly effective way.

Regardless, teenagers and young adults will likely watch this repeatedly if they are at all interested in, or familiar with, the story. Plummer might become a breakout star.

However, one wishes Words on Bathroom Walls captured the raw emotional depths of films like The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Edge of Seventeen. These were two recent examples of movies unafraid and unapologetic in presenting teenagers, flaws and all, while also exhibiting compassion and cultivating stories we can personally relate to.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Charlie Plummer, Taylor Russell, Andy Garcia, AnnaSophia Robb, Devon Bostick, Lolo Sebastian, Molly Parker, Walton Goggins, Beth Grant.

Director: Thor Freudenthal
Written by: Nick Naveda
Adapted from the novel, “Words on Bathroom Walls” by Julia Walton
Release Date: August 21, 2020
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