For years now, up-and-coming youngster Oakes Fegley has been turning in quietly devastating performances. Whether it be woods-dweller Pete of Pete’s Dragon or a complex orphan in The Goldfinch, Fegley has quickly made a name for himself in choosing roles that are uniquely singular. Adam the First, Fegley’s latest and first full leading role, offers little in the way of originality or uniqueness. What it does manage to accomplish is further underlining Fegley’s talents. This kid was no one-hit wonder—as the sole notable performance in a rather standard indie drama, Oakes Fegley proves he will not be fading away anytime soon.
Raised deep in the wilderness by two people who expressly repeat that they are not his biological parents, Adam’s curiosity about uncovering his past reaches a boiling point early in the film. Our entry into Adam involves him hunting for rabbits, as he and his parental stand-ins live off the land in a trailer. By the time Adam finds a handwritten note detailing where he may find his birth father, Adam has no other choice than to leave behind everything he knows to start anew.
Fegley plays fourteen-year-old Adam with a constant sense of curiosity, and a gentle confidence. The only thing Adam knows has been the abrasive ruggedness of the forest and its denizens. Now, forced to go on a journey of literal self-discovery, Adam would have to be a completely changed person by the end of it all. The scripting from writer/director Irving Franco definitely stumbles into many cliches, becoming a veritable road trip movie. As Adam checks off the names of possible fathers, he inches closer and closer to finding his real dad.
Perhaps the takeaway is that no matter the person, we all have our own separate stories to tell. Adam comes upon many people from all different walks of life. From the deeply religious to the endlessly incarcerated, Adam gains an interesting form of life experience from those he encounters. An eventual endgame is cute, if a bit obvious from the earlier moments. None of this feels vital or gripping enough to leave much of a mark, save Fegley’s showstopping turn as Adam.
For the less selective consumer of indie art, Adam the First may be an easy watch. However, I definitely prefer more substance when it comes to these low-key offerings. Oakes Fegley is the glue that holds it all together. Without him at its center, Adam the First would crumble under the weight of its vignette-style and superfluous meanderings.
Adam the First searches for answers, exclusively in select theatres on Valentine’s Day.
I’m watching Adam the First right now. The boy appears to have been raised off-grid deep in the woods. There is no indication for the audience to know that the boy had ever seen a town or a store or had any experience with how society works. I was expecting him to be a babe out of the woods. How did Adam know how to navigate the town, which way to turn so quickly. He seemed very comfortable with a town’s layout and which store would have a lot of cash on hand. How did he know how to fool the store clerk and direct him to the cash register. How did he know how to drive the car so readily and comfortably, where to drive? He just seemed too comfortable and worldly wise…almost street smart.
Also, who kidnapped Adam as a baby and why abandon him in the forest with a note? Highly implausible.