Adam (2019 American film)

Last updated
Adam
Adam poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rhys Ernst
Written by Ariel Schrag
Based onAdam
2014 novel
by Ariel Schrag
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyShawn Peters
Edited byJoe Murphy
Music byJay Wadley
Production
companies
  • Little Punk
  • Symbolic Exchange
  • Meridan Entertainment
Distributed by Wolfe Releasing
Release dates
  • January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25)(Sundance)
  • August 14, 2019 (2019-08-14)(United States)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Adam is a 2019 American comedy-drama film directed by Rhys Ernst, from a screenplay by Ariel Schrag, based upon the novel of the same name by Schrag. It stars Nicholas Alexander, Bobbi Menuez, Leo Sheng, Chloe Levine, and Margaret Qualley.

Contents

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019. It was released on August 14, 2019, by Wolfe Releasing.

Plot

Shy and nerdy teenager Adam (Nicholas Alexander) spends his last high school summer in NYC with his older sister, who is part of the local lesbian and trans activist scene. Adam meets and develops a crush on a lesbian girl, Gillian (Bobbi Menuez), at an LGBTQ+ party. Gillian assumes that he is a trans man, and Adam confirms the lie, running with the deception in order to win her affection. Adam's struggle and guilt over his deceit increases as the relationship between him and Gillian deepens, eventually leading him to admit that he is not trans. Gillian accepts both this and him, having realized that she is bisexual rather than lesbian. They break up however as the relationship was based on lies, though Adam gains a deep regard toward trans people.

Cast

Production

In November 2016, it was announced Desiree Akhavan would direct the film, from a screenplay by Ariel Schrag, based upon her novel of the same name. James Schamus and Howard Gertler would produce the film, while Joe Pirro would serve as an executive producer under their Symbolic Exchange banner. [1] However, Akhavan had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts, and Rhys Ernst ended up directing the film. [2]

Release

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019. [3] [4] Shortly after, Wolfe Releasing acquired distribution rights to the film. [5] It was released on August 14, 2019. [6]

Critical reception

Adam holds a 74% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews, with an average of 6.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Much like its well-meaning but clueless protagonist, Adam occasionally seems to be in over its head -- but its good intentions make those fumbles easier to forgive." [7] On Metacritic, the film holds a rating of 64 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [8]

Controversy

Because gender deception is a major plot element of the film (and the novel upon which it is based), it has been the subject of controversy. [9] [10] Director Rhys Ernst, a trans person himself, has acknowledged the criticism of the source material, but says "a primary condition to my working on the project was that I would tell it from a trans perspective" and that "the changes address many of the concerns that have been raised about the novel", [11] as well as stating "the things that people are afraid of, who haven't seen the movie, none of those things are in the movie." [12] He also stated, "There were a lot of changes between the book and the script, so I didn't really dwell on the book that much. I'm seeing my role and vision in this to create a whole new work that's jumping off from the script but not the book so much." [13]

Ernst also responded to online calls to boycott the film, saying, "the idea of boycotting or condemning projects before they're released is not progressive or beneficial. It reminds me of Gamergate, of attempts to shut down a female Ghostbusters movie [...] I don't think I believe in boycotts of cultural products, of art. There are other ways of engaging. I think, you know, burning a book, even the most vile book I can think of — I find that too close to fascism. I'm sorry. I don't believe in that." [14]

Related Research Articles

<i>Dressed to Kill</i> (1980 film) 1980 film by Brian De Palma

Dressed to Kill is a 1980 American erotic psychological thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma, and starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen. It depicts the events leading up to the brutal murder of a New York City housewife (Dickinson) before following a prostitute (Allen) who witnesses the crime, and her attempts to solve it with the help of the victim's son. It contains several direct references to Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho.

<i>Chasing Amy</i> 1997 film by Kevin Smith

Chasing Amy is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series, the film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian (Adams), to the displeasure of his best friend (Lee).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Schrag</span> American cartoonist and television writer

Ariel Schrag is an American cartoonist and television writer who achieved critical recognition at an early age for her autobiographical comics. Her novel Adam provoked controversy with its theme of a heterosexual teenage boy becoming drawn into the LGBTQ community of New York. Schrag accepts the label of ‘dyke comic book artist’.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenni Olson</span> American filmmaker

Jenni Olson is a writer, archivist, historian, consultant, and non-fiction filmmaker based in Berkeley, California. She co-founded the pioneering LGBT website PlanetOut.com. Her two feature-length essay films — The Joy of Life (2005) and The Royal Road (2015) — premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her work as an experimental filmmaker and her expansive personal collection of LGBTQ film prints and memorabilia were acquired in April 2020 by the Harvard Film Archive, and her reflection on the last 30 years of LGBT film history was published as a chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Queer Cinema from Oxford University Press in 2021. In 2020, she was named to the Out Magazine Out 100 list. In 2021, she was recognized with the prestigious Special TEDDY Award at the Berlin Film Festival. She also campaigned to have a barrier erected on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicides.

<i>Desert Hearts</i> 1985 film by Donna Deitch

Desert Hearts is a 1985 American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the 1964 lesbian novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in 1959, it tells the story of a university professor awaiting a divorce who finds her true self through a relationship with another, more self-confident woman. The film stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau with a supporting performance by Audra Lindley.

<i>Choke</i> (2008 film) 2008 film by Clark Gregg

Choke is a 2008 American black comedy film written and directed by Clark Gregg, based on the 2001 novel by Chuck Palahniuk. It stars Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. It tells the story of a man who works in a colonial theme park, attends sexual addiction recovery meetings, and intentionally chokes on food in upscale restaurants so his "rescuers" give him money out of sympathy and thus cover his mother's Alzheimer's disease hospital bills.

<i>Appropriate Behavior</i> 2014 film by Desiree Akhavan

Appropriate Behavior is a British-produced comedy film set in New York City, which premiered on 18 January 2014 at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Written and directed by Desiree Akhavan, the film—Akhavan's feature directorial debut—stars Akhavan as Shirin, a bisexual Persian American woman in Brooklyn struggling to rebuild her life after breaking up with her girlfriend Maxine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desiree Akhavan</span> American film director, producer, screenwriter and actress

Desiree Akhavan (Persian: دزیره اخوان, born December 27, 1984) is an American filmmaker, writer and actress. She is best known for her 2014 feature film debut Appropriate Behavior, and her 2018 film The Miseducation of Cameron Post. She appeared in the found footage horror film Creep 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Brice</span> American film director

Donat Patrick Kack-Brice, known professionally as Patrick Brice, is an American film director, actor, screenwriter and cinematographer. He is known for directing Creep (2014), The Overnight (2015), Creep 2 (2017), Corporate Animals (2019) and There's Someone Inside Your House (2021).

<i>Indignation</i> (film) 2016 American film

Indignation is a 2016 American drama film written, produced, and directed by James Schamus. The film, based on the 2008 novel by Philip Roth, is set mostly in Ohio in the early 1950s, and stars Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Tracy Letts, Linda Emond, and Danny Burstein.

<i>The Vanishing of Sidney Hall</i> 2017 American mystery drama film by Shawn Christensen

The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is a 2017 American mystery drama film directed and co-written by Shawn Christensen and starring Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Lane and Kyle Chandler.

<i>White Girl</i> (2016 film) 2016 American film

White Girl is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Elizabeth Wood in her directorial debut. It stars Morgan Saylor, Brian Marc, India Menuez, Adrian Martinez, Anthony Ramos, Ralph Rodriguez, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, Chris Noth and Justin Bartha.

<i>Official Secrets</i> (film) 2019 film

Official Secrets is a 2019 British drama film directed by Gavin Hood, based on the case of whistleblower Katharine Gun who exposed an illegal spying operation by American and British intelligence services to gauge sentiment of and potentially blackmail United Nations diplomats tasked to vote on a resolution regarding the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Keira Knightley stars as Gun, alongside Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Adam Bakri, Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes.

<i>The Miseducation of Cameron Post</i> (film) 2018 film by Desiree Akhavan

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a 2018 coming-of-age drama film directed by Desiree Akhavan and written by Akhavan and Cecilia Frugiuele, based on the 2012 novel by Emily M. Danforth. It stars Chloë Grace Moretz, John Gallagher Jr., Sasha Lane, Forrest Goodluck, Marin Ireland, Owen Campbell, Kerry Butler, Quinn Shephard, Emily Skeggs, Melanie Ehrlich, and Jennifer Ehle. Moretz plays a teenager sent to a gay conversion therapy centre. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018. It was released in the United States on August 3, 2018, by FilmRise, and United Kingdom on September 7, 2018, by Vertigo Releasing. It received positive reviews and has grossed $2 million globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobbi Salvör Menuez</span> American actor and model

Bobbi Salvör Menuez is an American actor and model & founder of the Luck You artist collective in New York City. Menuez appeared in such films as Something in the Air, The Breakup Girl and White Girl and appeared in the Amazon Video series I Love Dick. They have been a curator at MoMA PS1.

Ingrid Jungermann is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. They are best known for Women Who Kill, their directorial film debut, and web series The Slope and F to 7th.

<i>Native Son</i> (2019 film) 2019 film directed by Rashid Johnson

Native Son is a 2019 American drama film directed by Rashid Johnson from a screenplay by Suzan-Lori Parks. It is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Wright. The film stars Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Bill Camp and Sanaa Lathan.

Rhys Ernst is an American film producer and director. A trans man, his work explores transgender identity. He is best known for his work on transgender-related television shows, serving as an associate producer on Transparent and the director of its documentary spin-off This is Me. He is also known for his controversial debut feature film Adam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dana Aliya Levinson</span> Actor, writer, trans advocate

Dana Aliya Levinson, born in 1992, is a television writer, actress, and Jewish transgender advocate best known for her roles as Toni Rykener on the television series American Gods, Sadie Lipton in The Good Fight, and Hazel in the independent film Adam which had its world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.

References

  1. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (November 29, 2016). "Desiree Akhavan To Direct Book Adaptation 'Adam' For James Schamus' Symbolic Exchange". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  2. ↑ Erbland, Kate (October 27, 2017). "How 'Appropriate Behavior' Filmmaker Desiree Akhavan Avoided the Second-Film Slump By Getting the Hell Out of Hollywood". IndieWire . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  3. ↑ Debruge, Peter (November 28, 2018). "Sundance Film Festival Unveils 2019 Features Lineup". Variety . Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Adam". Sundance Film Festival . Archived from the original on May 7, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  5. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 19, 2019). "James Schamus Produced Comedy 'Adam' Acquired By Wolfe Releasing – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Adam". IFC Center . Retrieved June 23, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Adam (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  8. ↑ "Adam Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Your First Look at 'Adam,' a Comedy About Mistaken Gender Identity". www.out.com. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  10. ↑ "'Adam' Director Rhys Ernst Addresses Critics and the 'War on Nuance'". www.advocate.com. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-26.
  11. ↑ Ernst, Rhys (June 5, 2018). "On "Adam"". Medium . Retrieved July 14, 2019.
  12. ↑ Whitney, Oliver (August 5, 2019). "Should the Movie Adam Be Canceled Before Anyone Sees it?". Vulture . Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  13. ↑ Whitney, Oliver (January 26, 2019). "Rhys Ernst Wants To Make A Trilogy Of Movies About Trans Men". Huffington Post . Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  14. ↑ "People Are Calling For This Queer Indie Film To Be Canceled Before It Hits Theaters". BuzzFeed News. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.