7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A teenager coping with paranoid schizophrenia hopes his new experimental drug treatment will help him navigate high school and the outside world.
Starring: AnnaSophia Robb, Walton Goggins, Andy Garcia, Taylor Russell, Molly ParkerTeen | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
It’s perhaps slightly amusing that a film about mental illness should be co-produced and directed by a guy with one of the most legendary names in the history of psychiatry buried in his own name, but that’s the case with Words on Bathroom Walls and Thor Freudenthal. Freud himself may have advocated lengthy analysis sessions to try to confront various psychological issues, but that was (not to state the obvious) before the days of pharmaceutical approaches, but Freud famously felt psychoanalysis could run up against a brick wall of sorts when dealing the schizophrenia, the mental illness at the core of Words on Bathroom Walls. There have been a glut of films featuring one or more teenaged characters undergoing the throes of some horrifying disease, but somehow managing to find true love despite the challenges, and some may approach Words on Bathroom Walls with a fair amount of trepidation, thinking that there’s no way this film could do anything new with such by now familiar material. And yet, this film has a rather distinctive “personality” (multiple or not), and manages to find quite a bit of heart in a story that is resolutely centered on a kid being held captive by his errant mind.
Words on Bathroom Walls is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The IMDb lists Arri Alexa Minis, but fails to include at what resolution the DI was finished, though I'm assuming 2K. This is an appealing looking transfer that typically has great looking detail, albeit within a context where things can be intentionally skewed when Adam is having one of his "episodes". In that regard, there's some kind of soft and not always effective CGI in this film, including everything from a "dark cloud" that consumes various people (including Adam) at times, as well as more whimsical moments like Sister Catherine's office (and Sister Catherine) bursting into flames (see screenshot 5). The almost abstract nature of these techniques perhaps chafes with the more "substantial" hallucinations of the imaginary characters.
Words on Bathroom Walls has a very impressively designed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The film has a number of great songs by The Chainsmokers, most of which significantly open up the soundstage, but some of the most memorable elements here are the auditory hallucinations that Adam suffers, which in this surround track do indeed surround the listener with an almost threatening a multi-directional array. (I really kind of wonder what an Atmos track might have done for this particular aspect of the sound design, since it certainly seems like some of the effects are almost vertical even in this mix.) Dialogue as well as Adam's voicover is presented cleanly and clearly without any issues whatsoever. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.
Words on Bathroom Walls gets a lot right, and it's bolstered by some generally very effective performances, but I think the film might strike some who actually suffer from some kind of mental illness as papering over the trauma of such an affliction with the very sort of kum-ba-yah schmaltz that Adam (rightly?) makes fun of in one of his confessionals directed squarely at the camera. That qualm aside, those who have liked other "teen battling some kind of health scare while falling in love" films will probably find a lot to like here. Technical merits (especially audio) are solid, and with caveats noted, Words on Bathroom Walls comes Recommended.
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