OCD comes in all shapes and sizes, so there is still much to explore about this condition on screen. Addition, an adaptation of Toni Jordan’s best-selling novel, sheds light on another branch of OCD, which involves an ample amount of mental math. Grace (Teresa Palmer) is triggered by her mind’s attraction to counting anything from the bites necessary to eat a piece of cake to the amount of bristles in a toothbrush (which would take hours). Although her counting spree struggle stems from a much greater cause than what meets the eye, the protagonist is unable to move past her uncontrollable urge to stop everything she is doing and double-check the exact number of each item in her home. Marcelle Lunam’s first narrative feature explores how the protagonist can fall in love and maintain a committed relationship, while also learning to prioritize her mental health.

What Is ‘Addition’ About?

This sensitive and endearing romance begins in a supermarket aisle when Grace accidentally forgets to pick up the exact amount of bananas she intended to buy. In order to remedy the situation, she steals one from the guy behind her in the check-out line. This quick fix ends up connecting her to Seamus (Joe Dempsie), a painter who instantly becomes enamored by Grace’s cheeky sense of humor. As the two begin to go out on dates and progress as a couple, he suspects that there is something about herself that she is hiding from him. Although the protagonist is a mathematician by profession, she has also developed an obsession for counting in her everyday life, which prevents her from being able to process information that is outside of her very pragmatic agenda. By coming clean about her condition, Grace decides to not only open her fractured heart to someone who can mend it, but also open her mind for the possibility of healing.

Teresa Palmer’s Romantic Lead Return Was Worth the Wait
Image via TIFF

It’s been a while since Teresa Palmer has graced our screens as a romantic lead. In between her work on the streaming hit A Discovery of Witches to her supporting part in this year’s The Fall Guy, the actress hasn’t had the chance to star in feel-good love stories like this in a long time, which only makes her return to the genre that much sweeter. From the moment she shows up in Addition, audiences can’t help but be captivated by her character’s flirty and easy-going personality, but also understand that beneath her charisma lies an internal struggle that is too hard to shake away. Much to Palmer’s credit, it is easy to root for Grace. Whenever she gets the tendency to look at her surroundings through a numerical lens, you can tell that she is trying to pull it together. Although her attempts are mostly unsuccessful at the start, the main character slowly becomes more drawn to the idea of seeking therapy because of Seamus and Larry (Lou Baxter), her smart niece who looks up to her.

Given that the film is almost entirely focused on the protagonist, other characters besides Seamus, to an extent, are barely developed. Jill and Marge, Grace’s sister and mother, played by Adrienne Pickering and Sarah Pierse, simply function as a plot device to help audiences connect the dots about the protagonist’s disorder. Although that doesn’t really hinder the narrative from running its course, it is impossible not to wish that there were more moments between Grace and Larry. The few instances we get to see their aunt-niece interactions truly add warmth to the film on top of the romance that is unfolding.

‘Addition’ Inspects Recovery After Trauma, But Way Too Quickly
Image via TIFF

In an effort to keep the film lighthearted and well-paced, Addition rushes the depiction of Grace’s recovery journey. For years, she hasn’t been able to control her urge to count due to a traumatic event from her youth. Her condition led her to find solace in an imaginary friend, Nikola Tesla (played by Eamon Farren), a real life figure she deems the smartest man that ever walked the earth. Whenever Nik pops onto the screen, it is an indicator that Grace’s OCD is taking over. As the character undergoes treatment, the instances that her imaginary friend pays her a visit get reduced. Although his departure from her mind is gradual, in the last few minutes of the film it seems like the protagonist suddenly gets the gist of what makes her disorder tick and manages to recover instantly. Considering that Lunam’s feature focuses on Grace’s mental health struggle, having her walk into an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant without second-guessing feels a little too abrupt. In rushing the character’s improvement, the film misses the mark in what could be an even more realistic depiction of its mental health arc.

Aside from this, Addition has everything that you would want from a romance. It has a meant-to-be couple, a conflict that threatens their relationship, and a joint effort from the love interests to make things work. Palmer and Dempsie’s chemistry is noticeable from their characters’ meet-cute to the final scene that they share. Their connection onscreen allows for a project that also touches on the difficulty of OCD to feel more uplifting than depressing, which is exactly what you would hope for from something within this genre. By the end, viewers will leave this title with a smile plastered on their faces and sigh, because although romances like this aren’t as sugarcoated in real-life as the movie makes them to be, it is delightful to watch it play out in a fictional setting and believe in its existence for the film’s duration.

Addition had its World Premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.