For everyone Film review: Words on Bathroom Walls

★★★★

A coming-of-ager with a difference, this Nick Naveda-written adaptation of the Julia Walton young adult novel of the same name casts Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World) as sweet, cooking-obsessed kid Adam.

His final year at high school is derailed when an accident in a science lab sees him pulled out and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Which explains why only he can see the hippy (AnnaSophia Robb), the bodyguard (Lobo Sebastian) and an oversexed teen (Devon Bostick), all of whom keep interfering in his life, some more welcome than others. 

Settling into a new school with final exams approaching is far from ideal, but it does mean he gets to meet cute, brainy kid Maya (Taylor Russell). In the hands of Diary of a Wimpy Kid director Thor Freudenthal, this is a thoughtful look at neurodiversity that even nudges into (tame) horror territory, as the voices in his head become more aggressive.

Leans a little too heavily into happy-ever-after rom-com territory in the end, but fun along the way, with a great Andy Garcia cameo as a kindly priest.