But ultimately he acknowledges that in the kitchen "Everything disappears and I get to be exactly who I want to be." At first, he dismisses his love for cooking, telling us it's a distraction or self-medicating.
And at first it works, "the closest I've felt to normal well, ever." All he needs from the new school is a place where no one knows his history and a diploma so he can realize his dream of attending cooking school. By that time, we are as worried about his future as he is.Īdam's mother will not give up until he is better, and so he tries yet another new medication. We do not need Adam to tell us what he is thinking. In one understated moment, Adam is riding on a bus and glimpses a homeless man who is mentally ill. But we see what he sees: she is engulfed in flames. Yes, he will get a near-A average and yes, he will take his medication. When Adam is being interviewed by the nun who heads up his new school ( Beth Grant), we hear him give the calm, reassuring answers she wants to hear. We see what he sees, whether it is a horror-movie-style inky blob or the three people who seem to follow him around and tell him what to do all the time, a blissed-out hippie chick, a 1980s-teen-movie-style teenager urging Adam to get some, and an angry bruiser who acts as his bodyguard, whether it is necessary or not.
Adam is a perceptive and sympathetic character and director Thor Freudenthal brings us inside his perception of the world with striking visuals. Nick Naveda's strong, smart script is based on the award-winning novel by Julia Walton. The specifics work, with superb performances from an exceptional cast, and that illuminates the universal themes of identity and intimacy. But at its essence it is a story about what all teenagers-and all people-want: to be independent, to have satisfying work, and to love and be loved. In addition to the intensity of hormones and separation from parents and intense emotions, there's the pressure of the restricted, hothouse environment of home and what Adam calls "the unforgiving ecosystem that is high school." Adding mental illness to the story heightens it further and provides another level of pressure and confusion. Stories about teenagers are particularly compelling because the struggles of adolescence are universal they are inherently heightened and therefore inherently dramatic.
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