Words on Bathroom Walls

Words on Bathroom Walls was released on August 21, 2020, by Roadside Attractions. It received generally positive reviews from critics.

Adam transfers to St. Agatha’s Catholic School. There he meets Maya, a feisty, intelligent girl and class valedictorian. Adam gets Maya to tutor him and finds she helps him feel better, so he takes his new medication regularly. This reduces his visions, with only the side effect being muscle twitching. He takes a romantic interest in Maya and the two become close, but he does not disclose his condition to her out of fear of stigmatization. Adam also starts to regularly confide in Father Patrick, the sympathetic school priest, about his fears and anxieties.

When Maya doesn’t show to a tutoring session, Adam visits her home. He discovers that her family is struggling financially, and she is embarrassed and angry about his unannounced visit. Once Maya realizes he doesn’t care about her background, she continues tutoring him. She invites him to her restaurant job where she has him cook for her, but a taste test leads Adam to the realization his medication is negatively affecting his taste buds.

Adam decides to stop taking his medications, unbeknownst to his mother Beth and stepfather Paul. His moods become imbalanced and his delusions return. The news that Beth is expecting a new baby with Paul also gives rise to Adam’s insecurities about being unwanted and feeling like a burden. Nevertheless, Adam’s grades improve so much that his essay is selected to be read at graduation. He asks Maya to the prom and she accepts.

Beth finds out Adam has stopped his medication and confronts him. Sister Catherine, the school’s headmistress, is informed about the incident and about what happened at his last school. He is temporarily suspended, with the reasoning that it is for the students’ safety. Adam lashes out at Paul, believing that an email Paul wrote to Sister Catherine the previous night is behind the suspension.

The suspension bars Adam from attending the prom, but he goes anyway. Before he leaves, he takes an overdose of his medication, believing it will help the night go smoothly. He meets Maya there, but as they dance, the dark voice plagues him and he begins to act erratically. Sister Catherine tries to kick him out, but his delusions cause him to push her to the ground, run to the catwalk, and fall over the edge.

Adam wakes in the hospital to see Beth and Paul. Maya shows up to visit, but he breaks down when the visions overwhelm him. He yells at her and tells her to leave. He is expelled from St. Agatha’s and placed in a psych ward. Father Patrick visits and tells Adam he wasn’t aware of his struggles, saying he will pray for him. Beth brings Adam a printed copy of the email Paul sent to St. Agatha’s. Contrary to what Adam thought, Paul supported his stepson and wrote that suspending him would be cruel. Realizing how much he cares, Adam runs to catch up with him and Beth, hugging Paul for the first time and accepting him as a fatherly figure.

Beth and Paul take Adam to St. Agatha’s graduation ceremony, where, despite Sister Catherine’s attempt to stop him, he gathers the courage to address the student body calmly, with the support of Father Patrick. He quotes his essay in which he discusses both his condition and battle with schizophrenia, saying he wished he hadn’t hidden his illness. After he leaves the auditorium, Maya runs after him. Adam apologizes for not telling her about his illness, at which point they express their mutual love and share a kiss.

Adam is able to receive his high school diploma and realizes his dream of attending culinary school. As he celebrates the birth of his new sibling with his parents and Maya, it is shown that the voices are still present, but he has learned to live alongside them.