★ 10 / 10
Remarkable social drama, fantastic acting
Léa Drucker nailed it in this new Belgian social drama about a nurse's shift in the hell of a hospital's pediatric unit. The nurse, Lucy, is the main…
Léa Drucker nailed it in this new Belgian social drama about a nurse's shift in the hell of a hospital's pediatric unit. The nurse, Lucy, is the main character, and she is confident, professional, sober, vigilant, attentive and compassionate. And dedicated. She is assisting a lot of injured children and their frustrated families, but the most worrying is Adam, a young child with an eating disorder which resulted in a broken arm. His mother is a young girl whose impulsive and dangerous behavior is leading her to loss of custody, and she's at the point of losing it. The film amazingly portrays several social issues we must be aware of and gives a wonderful example of supportive behavior. "Adam's Sake" is definitely a praiseworthy alternative of Superman, with Lucy being a Superwoman. Bravo, Léa Drucker, Laura Wandel and everybody else involved in the making of this remarkable film.
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★ 6 / 10
Unsure what filmmakers want to show. An understaffed hospital with tight rules? A mother not acting in the child's interest? Or a mixture??
Saw this at the filmfestival Ghent 2025. At first sight I was pondering who to sympathize with?? Certainly not the mother, who plants thoughts in the head of…
Saw this at the filmfestival Ghent 2025. At first sight I was pondering who to sympathize with?? Certainly not the mother, who plants thoughts in the head of her son that hospital food is dangerous. It goes so far that the son refuses any food that does not come from his mother. It would have been stupid and sad, were it not that her food is not good for his recovery and will lead again to a broken arm of leg, sooner rather than later.Nothing much is explained about the backgrounds of mother and son, and particularly no explanation about their food habits. Is it religion, false advice, allergies, or merely stupidity?? We know for certain that a judge has decided that the presence of the mother is not good for the son, and she may see him officially during hospital visiting hours only. The reason for his broken arm is not stated explicitly. We are always very hasty to suspect domestic violence, but further in the story I get the impression that his bones are weakened due to the food she gives him (by deduction, not a fact).The nurse in the lead role goes at every length, and even further than that, to leave the mother with the son, despite the instructions of the judge and social services. The mother makes all sorts of attempts to obstruct proper care by the hospital, hoping to force some leniency but achieves the opposite. She even takes the son with her, and they flee together. Their escape fails and she gets hurt in the process, which let them arrive separately in the respective emergency rooms, defeating the purpose of what she wanted.Protocols demand that the son's father is called in, due to the mother being treated elsewhere in the hospital. He arrives with his new partner, complicating things even more. He is reluctant to stay but the hospital demands his continued presence. Alas and again, not much is revealed about their relationship and how it came about that they separated.Alongside the above we see the effects of procedures and protocols in hospitals. Nurses have some leeway but not without an obligation to consult their superiors, who link with outside parties like social services and the police. We see the nurse going beyond what is admissible. Of course, her behavior is understandable, so we are inclined to applaud what she does. However, it does not go that far that our sympathy is endless. The latter is caused by the obstinacy of the mother, who does not cooperate and does all sorts of stupid things hampering the treatment of her son, to the extent that she eventually loses our sympathy altogether.This movie has all the characteristics of a human drama about family relationships and parental care, but on second thought rather looking like social commentary on hospital rules and guidelines, and how it works out in the workplace, the proverbial hands on the hospital bed. It is not a documentary however, due to focusing on one family and one nurse. I would have preferred to have a less obstinate mother, and/or an explanation how it came that far with her behavior, maybe due to previous bad experiences with institutions (it could have explained a lot). The understaffed public hospital is also shown to worsen the situation, maybe an intended sideline in the plot but not made very explicit.All in all, a movie with lots of perceived intentions, only a few getting the attention they deserve. I'm not sure how it will work out on the average audience. Will it have the effects intended by the film makers??
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80%
AUDIENCE
6.5/10
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