THE STORY – Against hospital protocol and court restrictions, a compassionate nurse finds herself caught between helping a distraught mother and maintaining professional standards of care.
THE CAST – Léa Drucker, Anamaria Vartolomei, Alex Desca, Jules Delsart, Claire Bodson & Laurent Capelluto
THE TEAM – Laura Wandel (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 78 Minutes
2025 has been quite timely for medical dramas to go through a resurgence. With the healthcare system constantly worsening since COVID-19 and the financial and legal support for medical institutions at a scary low, it has become increasingly apparent that the state of healthcare systems is a pressing topic of conversation. The recent emergence of “The Pitt” is the most popular example. Meanwhile, at Cannes, that trend doesn’t seem to be bucking anytime soon, with “Adam’s Sake” proving to be another great showcase told through a completely subjective point of view that hinges on a singular experience.
Laura Wandel’s sophomore feature tackles a nuanced cross-threading of the state of child pediatric emergency rooms while attempting to display the various patient scenarios nurses face within a single shift. Immediately, we are thrown right into Lucy’s world that she so carefully navigates, which Lea Drucker so expertly plays, attempting to monitor the desperately struggling Rebecca (the ever so-talented Annamaria Vartolomei from “Happening” and “Mickey 17“) while keeping her emotions in check as the probation officer and one of the doctors insists on revoking the mother’s visitation rights. Rebecca pleads to stay with her child and not feel alone and helpless. Her son reciprocates her wishes and begs for his mom to stay the night. But the main problem is that Rebecca finds herself prioritizing her son’s stubbornness against natural food consumption over his health, which is none more difficult to watch than when she secretly throws away his meal and feeds him porridge-like slop despite Lucy’s clear instructions to feed him properly.
The question is often posed about who exactly nurtures a child, with the response commonly being that the ones responsible for taking care of children are the parents. But what happens when one parent is absent while the other is incapable of meeting the demands of raising their child, in this case, a single mother (Anamaria Vartolomei) who is struggling to nurse her son (played by the brilliant young Jules Delsart) back to health after he broke his bone. Head nurse Lucy has to decide the extent of her supervision of Rebecca’s capacity to care for her child while demonstrating her own support for Adam’s recovery. The primary concern is that he isn’t eating enough food, getting to the point where he has to use a feeding tube so that his nutrients and immune system don’t completely diminish. But what if the child doesn’t want to eat? And what if the mother chooses to side with her son’s wishes? Nurse Lucy is forced between 3 conflicts at once, where she must adhere to the medical procedure to return the child to health while getting in between Rebecca and her son’s love and having to warn her of her visitation rights being at risk. There is a strong possibility of Rebecca losing her custody battle, and all bets threaten to tear her family apart if she doesn’t comply.
The film works out almost like real-time as Nurse Lucy takes the audience on a gripping tour across the hospital, observing how each child is treated by their parents as they are being treated by the nurses. There’s a mixture of neglect, over-exertion, confusion, and struggle that forges a consistent pattern between all the parents, where it is clear that they all mean well yet are unable to adjust their understanding of the perception of a child’s world. What makes this especially important is how it shows the urgency of the nurse’s perspective as the eyes and ears in the hospital while retaining all the heart and empathy that can easily be sacrificed in such a fast-paced operating area where patients come in and out with no time to process each person with enough attention. A specific moment earlier in the film shows Lucy with a student doctor treating a young boy whose father is quite reluctant to see a student treat his child despite being medically trained, then even going as far as to position misogynistic views with remarks highlighting how the hospital seems to only have female nurses/doctors. That is not the case whatsoever, but it demonstrates how people can feel distrustful and even inconsiderate when approaching nurses and doctors. It’s these instances where social commentary may seem heavy-handed, but it’s a needed reminder that the world still has places to go, and not everyone is up to speed with the progressive parts of society’s workforce. Lucy’s defense of the student and advocacy for her are key points to note, and they not only reflect her character well but also show her expertise in handling difficult patients who refuse treatment for unquestionably ridiculous assumptions.
Through Wandell’s collaboration with cinematographer Frédéric Noirhomme, who also worked on her debut film Playground, they play around with the visual style, emphasizing key close-ups and longer takes to stress upon the viewer that these scenarios are ridden with anxiety and a lot of discomfort. Lucy only knows that she must do her job as a nurse and treat her patients. Still, her humanity is at risk of being compromised by a system that seeks to jeopardize familial relationships by discarding the very empathy that Lucy thrives on being able to understand a mother like Rebecca. As she, too, is a single mother, it is never shown, but it is implied that she had her own fair share of troubles with raising a child alone. The probation officer and doctor who don’t seem to be willing to hear Rebecca risk threatening to end a family before even giving it a chance to survive, and Lucy is at her limits, wedged between the rigid demands of the legal process and the emotional pressure taking its toll on the mother, son and herself as a person trying to improve a most precarious situation.
It makes the ending stretches all the more heartbreaking as Lucy and Rebecca are both entangled and defeated by a broken system unwilling to give them a chance to make it work, the returning absentee father who has seemingly moved on with another family, and the constant intrusion of various parties in upsetting Adam’s state only serves to worsen his understanding of his mother’s questioned parenting abilities. A particular line in the film is utterly devastating and shows how even very young children can understand and be aware of far too much in the world as they are forced to grow up faster than they desire to. Showing the inherent tribulations that come with being a parent who has to shoulder the weight of bringing a child into the world, knowing they may not even be ready to house one. But love is a peculiar thing, and devotion and promise do a lot of shoulder-carrying to make ends meet. Lucy notices this conviction through Rebecca and ultimately chooses to support her, which comes at the cost of the realization that some people just aren’t ready to accept help nor are able to bear the crushing weight of such generosity. It’s a heartbreaking moment of clarity that really brings the film together beautifully.
It is unquestionable that Lea Drucker steals the show and profoundly conveys a nuanced, devoted performance to bring Lucy’s dilemma to life as a person and mother who aims to do the right thing and cares for those who need it when the surrounding system is too keen on upending it all. Lea carries a natural gravitas that makes it easy to get behind her position of authority, even when she may, at times, assert herself enough that Rebecca has to reconcile with her issues despite how badly you want to root for her to get her son back on healthy terms. But what helps glue this poignant piece together is the combination of powerful performances between Lea Drucker, Annamaria Vartolomai, and newcomer Jules Delsart, who all pitch in an array of emotions that channel strong feelings of helplessness, even feeling close to home in its raw authenticity.
Overall, “Adam’s Sake” is a very respectable sophomore feature that tells a powerful story of children under difficult circumstances found commonly in everyday life where parents, the legal system, and adults, in general, learn or struggle to embrace their responsibilities, contributing to the loss of innocence in children and the growing sense of despair and guilt in hospitals and single mother households. It resonates in the places that matter and forces you to ponder these glaring oversights within the structural confines of society.
