Laura Wandel's second feature unravels the complexity of a mother-son relationship within the confines of a paediatric ward.
When we first meet the tiny moppet Adam (Jules Delsart) he is lying in a hospital bed with a feeding tube down his nose. At his side is his mother Rebecca (Anamaria Vartolomei) and head nurse Lucy (Léa Drucker) who both have the boy’s best interests at heart – right? The hospital staff aren’t so sure. Despite Rebecca’s insistence that Adam has some sort of stomach condition that makes a regular diet unfeasible, Adam is malnourished with brittle bones. Rebecca won’t feed him a proper diet; if Rebecca isn’t present, Adam won’t eat at all. Lucy finds herself in an impossible position, trying to act within the best interests of her young patient while the hospital staff breathe down her neck and the single mother becomes increasingly desperate.
The stark realism Wandel demonstrated in her harrowing debut Playground is on show again, with plenty of handheld cameras tracking Lucy as she buzzes around the corridors of the hospital, treating not only Adam but her other young patients, many of whom are in equally perilous situations. Fans of HBO Max’s 2025 medical drama The Pitt might recognise the real-time anxiety of Lucy’s shift, as she tries to provide care under incredible bureaucratic pressure and stretched resources within the healthcare system. Léa Drucker, a Cannes mainstay and dependably great screen presence, brings a sense of poise and competence to her role, even given the dire circumstances, while Happening breakout Anamaria Vartolomei is sympathetic as the mother kicking against a restrictive system.
Wandel avoids easy answers – Adam’s Sake is decidedly withholding of the facts, never quite revealing if Rebecca is acting in her son’s best interests or suffering from a psychological condition herself. This is a strength, as it demonstrates the nuance of her situation and indeed many real life cases for young at-risk children where there is no straightforward hero or villain. Yet its tight 76-minute runtime does leave us a little in the lurch – there’s a sense that some vital piece of the puzzle here is missing, while Rebecca’s fraught relationship with her ex (Adam’s father) veers a little towards cultural clichés about absent fathers.
Yet there’s no questioning Wandel’s candor, or her interest in approaching difficult subjects without dancing around them. As in Playground, she captures a remarkable performance from her young lead (here Jules Delsart) while speaking truth to power about the fundamental failings within the systems designed to protect the most vulnerable.
Published 15 May 2025
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