The last decade has really been something special for coming-of-age films, hasn't it? For better or worse, examples ranging from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' to 'Dope' have expanded the adolescent storytelling in some pretty varied ways and, in the process, have allowed more and more young audiences to see themselves inserted in stories.

But with that expansion also comes a flurry of subgenres, most notably the "young adult dystopia" and, topical to today, the medical teen drama. You know the ones I mean: 'The Fault In Our Stars,' 'Everything, Everything,' 'Five Feet Apart,' all movies that I don't necessarily dislike, but are aiming for a very specific audience that I just usually don't fall into.

When I initially heard about 'Words on Bathroom Walls,' I was worried it was just going to fall right into that same kind of lane. The cast seemed talented enough and the novel by Julia Walton is apparently pretty compelling from what I hear. But I wasn't necessarily jumping for joy over the thought of 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid's Thor Freudenthal directing and the thought of The Chainsmokers getting any kind of film composing gig got particularly under my skin.

Even more than that, there was a bigger fear in the back of my mind; that, in trying to examine some really interesting subject matter about coping with mental illness, it could wind up doing the exact opposite. Its central ideas could be dumbed down for some cheap cliches and would feel too simplistic or, even worse, too stigmatizing in an era where mental health is being taken more seriously and with more nuance than ever.

Nevertheless, that did feel like a bit of an exaggeration; the marketing looked alright and I wanted to be proven wrong, so what did we get with 'Words on Bathroom Walls?' Well, as it turns out, by the end of the film, I was actually kind of proven wrong.

'Words on Bathroom Walls' is certainly not immune to the cliches of the genre and it can succumb to them at crucial points. But for most of the movie, it feels remarkably free to give its main character and story the space to breathe and allow us in, topped off with a sense of sincerity that we just don't see in movies like this. It's not going to win any awards, and I don't know if it totally won me over, but it also puts in more effort than I was expecting.

Adam Petrazelli (played by Charlie Plummer) is trying to get through his last year of high school, dreaming of attending a recognized culinary school and becoming a chef. However, he also struggles with schizophrenia, causing him to see and hear things that may not be in line with reality. These include the voices in his head which he visualizes as Rebecca (played by AnnaSophia Robb), The Bodyguard (played by Lobo Sebastian), and Joaquin (played by Devon Bostick).

After an incident causes him to be expelled from his school, Adam is accepted to a catholic high school under the condition that he maintains a consistent GPA, stays on a new medication, and regularly visits a therapist. He soon meets Maya (played by Taylor Russell), the school's valedictorian who takes a liking to Adam and who agrees to help him with his studies. The two gradually become close and, even as the side effects of his medication begin to unfold, Adam hopes that he will finally be able to come to terms with himself and his condition.

Now, some of you are probably thinking one of two things about that synopsis: either it's going to wind up being too cheesy or too serious. While I contend that it can go into those sinkholes (we'll get to them), I found that 'Words on Bathroom Walls' actually has more than a few ways to not go too far into those shortcomings.

Even with the mixed results of his previous filmography, Thor Freudenthal has always been a director who likes to dive into his source material, and, with help from screenwriter Nick Nevada, he kind of pulls it off here. We certainly see plenty of Adam dealing with the results of his condition, but we also get to see plenty of him just being himself.

Not only is he talented as a chef, but we also get to see the kind of joy and peace he feels while in a kitchen environment, how he feels like this is the place he can be creative and truly happy. Allowing us to see that level of humanity in Adam, in turn, allows us as the audience to see both his best self and give us more insight into just how much is at stake for him.

As for those stakes, that's when we have to get into Adam's schizophrenia treatment and let me just state this right off the back; I am not an expert on mental health, nor do I feel qualified to say what is/isn't accurate for those going through very real conditions. I will say that the approach the film takes in showing us Adam's schizophrenia can feel a bit heavy-handed, but still rather effective, as we see how these visions, small or large, are just as real to Adam as anything else.

Those two elements of Adam's character are, admittedly, not very subtle as the film goes on and that's where Charlie Plummer's performance comes into play and helps make them feel believable. I wasn't familiar with Plummer's work before this ('All The Money In The World,' the 'Looking for Alaska' series, etc.), but I was legitimately impressed by just how much he is able to take on, with a mixture of awkward charm and subtle dread that gives Adam a distinctly grounded feel as, not just a protagonist, but a very good kid who we get to understand.

It also helps that he has a rather terrific supporting cast around him. Taylor Russell is given a pretty substantial amount of material to help elevate some of her and Plummer's chemistry (this is also your PSA to go check out ' 'Waves' from last year), Molly Parker gets to play Adam's mom with the kind of believable compassion that only gets explored more as the film goes on, and Walton Goggins gets to be a bit more subtle than usual playing Adam's stepfather.

Yet I think the subplot I was most fascinated by was Adam's conversations with Father Patrick, played by Andy Garcia. The idea of faith and religion (specifically Catholicism) comes up a fair amount in this movie and, while I wish there was a bit more depth to those examinations, it's not really the purpose of the story and it still adds some more depth to it.

Adam isn't Catholic (only adding to his sense of isolation at his school) and early on berates Father Patrick for his seemingly ambiguous platitudes (with a fair amount of 'Good Will Hunting' parallels thrown in just for good measure). However, Father Patrick is not perfect; he can be stern and certainly unclear, but he's also an outside adult in Adam's life who simply cares about helping. As we see the two characters interact more and more, Adam doesn't necessarily start to accept those beliefs, but those conversations are important because they give Adam the space he needs without pressures other characters might put on him.

All of this is to say that 'Words on Bathroom Walls' is quite good, but it can also fall victim to tropes and standards of the genre that might feel understandable but still out of place. As I mentioned, the film doesn't always nail subtlety and I really didn't mind most of those instances because they still feel genuine to Adam's experience. That is until we get to the third act and some of those cliches start to feel a bit too at home.

I won't spoil anything but its things you might expect in a movie like this (a big relationship misunderstanding, hospital drama emphasizing the danger the character faces, a bit of an exaggerated graduation scene, etc.) Even worse, it starts to feel like those in-your-face storytelling devices that worked before have now been flipped, only emphasizing those cliches and making the story feel distant. It certainly doesn't ruin the movie, but considering how well the rest of the movie has managed up until that point, it can start to feel like its losing steam.

Then there are Adam's vision companions and they frankly feel a fair bit undercooked. Rebecca, Joaquin, and The Bodyguard all play off of Adam nicely, but even when you take Adam's character into account, it feels like those three should be a bit more distinct, especially given how much the movie stakes in Adam getting rid of them. As for The Chainsmokers imprint on this, the music isn't terrible, but it certainly isn't memorable ('Love, Simon' this movie is not).

I'm not sure if audiences will connect with 'Words on Bathroom Walls' like other young adult medical movies, but I think the effort is clear enough for it to warrant that connection. Honestly, you give this a better third act and I might be calling this great, maybe even one of my favorites of the year. But as is, it's a movie that allows us to see mental illness taken with just a bit more complexity and care than usual and I'd like to give it props for that.

Overall, I give 'Words on Bathroom Walls' 7.5/10

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