Film of the week
Words On Bathroom Walls (Cert 12, 112 mins, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Romance/Drama, available from March 15 on Amazon Prime Video/BT TV Store/iTunes/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services) Starring: Charlie Plummer, Taylor Russell, Molly Parker, Walton Goggins, AnnaSophia Robb, Devon Bostick, Lobo Sebastian, Beth Grant. Witty, introspective high school student Adam Petrizelli (Charlie Plummer) is diagnosed with schizophrenia, which manifests as a pervasive, spiderlike darkness that leeches into his waking visions. Voices in his head take the form of three distinct, competing personalities: hippy chic free spirit Rebecca (AnnaSophia Robb), sex-obsessed teen Joaquin (Devon Bostick) and baseball bat-wielding thug The Bodyguard (Lobo Sebastian). A psychotic break in chemistry class leads to expulsion from school and Adam transfers midway through his senior year to Saint Agatha’s Catholic academy. The youngster’s trials create friction between his doting mother Beth (Molly Parker) and new stepfather (Walton Goggins). Meanwhile, at the academy, sassy valedictorian Maya (Taylor Russell) catches Adam’s eye but he is reluctant to share the truth about his mental health. Based on the young adult novel by Julia Walton, Words On Bathroom Walls strikes a pleasing balance between honouring and subverting the conventions of a coming-of-age story. In a year when mental health has been elevated in the public consciousness, director Thor Freudenthal’s moving drama is a timely call to arms for compassion and understanding for those who are suffering in isolation. Screenwriter Nick Naveda addresses the lead character’s schizophrenia with sensitivity and wry humour, employing visual cues as a cinematic shorthand for a complex and potentially frightening condition. Plummer deftly navigates the inner turmoil and mood swings of his alienated 17-year-old. His sympathetic, finely calibrated performance is matched by the luminous Russell as a spunky classmate, who understands the delicate art of concealing deeprooted pain.
The Columnist (Cert 15, 84 mins, Vertigo Releasing, Horror/Comedy/Romance, available from March 15)
Femke Boot (Katja Herbers) is a mild-mannered Dutch newspaper columnist, who draws on personal experience for her work. One opinion piece about a neighbour, who blithely flouts political correctness by performing in blackface, elicits a torrent of abuse on social media channels. She attempts to quell the uproar by taking part in a televised debate about free speech and pleads: “Why can’t we have different opinions and be nice about it?” Soon after, Femke sparks an unlikely romance with her opponent on the TV show: horror novelist Steven Dood (Bram van der Kelen). He moves into her home with teenage daughter Anna (Claire Porro), who is a chip off the old block. The online vitriol reaches fever pitch and Femke snaps, lashing out at one of the “army of losers with a laptop”. Blood flows freely as Femke systematically hunts down the trolls and hacks a finger from each victim as a grisly memento. Directed by Ivo van Aart with tongue wedged firmly in cheek, The Columnist is a ghoulish black comedy, which handcuffs some impressively grisly make-up effects to a familiar cautionary tale about the dark side of online interactions. Scriptwriter Daan Windhorst nudges his protagonist to the brink of madness then, sadly, pulls back to engineer an overly neat resolution that leaves too many important questions unanswered.