Adam

Production and year: USA, 2009 Genre: drama, romance Screenplay: Max Mayer Director: Max Mayer Music: Christopher Lennertz Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison Medical topic: Asperger's syndrome Description: "Adam" is a film about a 29-year-old man with Asperger’s syndrome who tries his best to adapt to a world that is foreign to him. The film opens with a comparison to The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and indeed, there is much of a child in him. On the one hand, given his straightforwardness, trust, and boundless honesty, this is beautiful; on the other, it becomes a problem when he begins a relationship that requires two adults. Fate does not spare Adam; he lost his mother as a child, and the film begins with his father’s funeral. Fortunately, he meets his new neighbor, Beth, with whom he spends a lot of time, begins to befriend, and eventually—to love. At first, she is afraid to commit to him; her father is opposed to it. Yet at the same time, she convinces herself that people like them can build a happy relationship, function within a marriage, and start a family. Their relationship is difficult; Adam cannot quite find his place in the reality in which Beth lives. A turning point in the plot comes when he finds a new job—not locally, but in distant California. For him, it’s the perfect opportunity to work at an observatory and pursue his passion at the same time, but as he prepares to leave for a foreign place, he must ask himself whether he truly loves his partner or if he merely needs her to find his footing in a world that’s entirely new to him. The film is a moving, complex, metaphor-rich portrayal that highlights the contrast between the psyche of a neurotypical person and that of someone with Asperger’s syndrome in terms of emotions and the ability to form relationships, as well as the Little Princes’ gradual adaptation to life among ordinary people.