Softie is about growing up and that push into personhood. For Johnny, a 10-year-old who has had a lot of adult responsibilities thrust upon him, his catalyst is his new teacher. Mr. Adamski (played by Antoine Reinartz) represents the world outside of Forbach, the only world Johnny (played by Aliocha Reinert) has known. On top of that Mr. Adamski rides a motorcycle. It’s no wonder Johnny develops a crush on him, especially as he fosters Johnny’s talent at school. Adult attention for a latchkey kid is intoxicating.
The theme of the film is introduced in the first classroom scene while they play a game of “where do you see yourself in 10-years,” and the seeds get planted that Johnny’s journey is one of realizing he needs to leave this town.
Tied to Johnny and his desire to leave Forbach, where he isn’t allowed to be a kid and, as the title implies, people find him soft (including his mother) is Johnny’s sexual journey. Writer/director Samuel Theis tells the story from Johnny’s perspective, so you are following his POV of the development of his crush on his teacher and the acts he takes to be near him.
The Johnny we first meet is presented as a petite adult. He’s introduced assisting a man (a prior adult crush?) roll his cigarette. Then it’s established he’s responsible for taking care of his younger sister, despite the fact he has a teenage brother. It’s only when he develops his crush that he displays more childlike behaviour. His crush has him doing everything he can to be near Mr. Adamski, including being irresponsible and keeping his sister out at night so he can spy on Mr. Adamski in his house.
The film and filmmaker are deeply aware of the sensitive nature of the subject matter of Johnny’s sexual awakening. Kids often develop their early crushes on older people in authority over them that give them attention, be it the babysitter, an older sibling’s friend, or even a teacher. In Softie, Mr. Adamski tries to establish propriety and maintain a proper teacher/student relationship, making sure Johnny keeps the classroom door open when they are alone. However, when Johnny shows up at Mr. Adamski’s front door after a physical confrontation with his mother Sonia (played by Mélissa Olexa), the lines get blurred. Mr. Adamski never returns Johnny’s romantic affections, but by opening that door, he let Johnny closer, and Johnny wasn’t able to see the difference between regular affection and romantic affection.
There is a great scene where Johnny has a conversation with an 8th-grade girl who, after casually stating that Johnny likes boys, asks him if he has a guy. The well-meaning girl, not realizing Mr. Adamski is the subject of Johnny’s affection, tells him “signs” to look for that will reveal his crush likes him. It was a nice scene because we got to see Johnny not express any fear about her knowing he liked guys while also foreshadowing the turn when Johnny attempts to put her advice into action.
The scene where Johnny tries to make a move on Mr. Adamski could have come off really bad, but Samuel Theis understood the stakes of the scene. Johnny had to be both the little adult he’s been forced to play, and the naïve 10-year-old child. This was achieved through Samuel Theis’ direction and Aliocha Reinert’s performance of the scene, which captured the awkwardness of Johnny putting on skin and playing a part that didn’t quite fit.
Early in the film, the school performs a lockdown drill, and the classroom of 10-year-olds are visibly shaken by it. This is a traumatic exercise children experience and afterward are just expected to be okay. I mention this because after Johnny’s rejected by Mr. Adamski, and thus not only is his crush severed but so are his ties to the world outside Forbach, Johnny spirals. In a moment of attempted escape from a world where the only future he sees is selling cigarettes, like his mother, or at a Mcdonald’s, he tries to step out the window of his classroom. When Johnny walked towards that window, my heart was in my throat, because I’ve watched enough media to be well aware of the “bury your gays” trope and because we’re only 10 years removed from the LGBTQ+ suicide endemic that necessitated the “It Gets Better” project. Even though I knew going in that the film was semi-autobiographical of Samuel Theis’ childhood and he was unlikely to kill Johnny, I still worried. Because I was carrying the trauma of my experiences to that moment. In the film, after the window incident, the principal says Johnny’s classmates are traumatized and they’ll have to bring someone to speak to them. Where was this person after the lockdown drill? When did we decide that was “normal trauma” that all kids get to deal with? Just because it was a drill and Johnny’s wasn’t doesn’t mean it didn’t have similar effects on the students’ psyches.
The movie ends with Johnny dancing, joyous and youthful because he knows what he wants in life and, he knows what he has to do to get it.
Softie premiered at Cannes as part of Critics’ Week.
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.