A brutal awakening shatters Adam’s sheltered life in “Adam the First” (2024). Thrust from the only home he’s ever known, the orphaned Adam embarks on a desperate quest to find his biological father. His journey becomes a kaleidoscope of encounters with an assortment of unique characters, each with a tale to tell. These interactions, though not explicitly directed at him, equip Adam with unexpected wisdom. What began as a search for his roots blossoms into a profound exploration of identity and the very meaning of family. However, the truth Adam uncovers isn’t the clear-cut answer he craved. Instead, it throws his identity into question, forcing him to confront a new and unsettling reality.
This article contains spoilers.
Adam the First (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with a young Adam somewhere in the woods with James, who reveals that he is not his birth father and does not know much about Adam’s birth parents. The only thing James gives Adam is a compass, which he says was on Adam when James found him. However, James promises to teach Adam everything that can help him survive. As the compass’s needle turns, time fast forwards to when Adam was around 14. Now, Adam is old enough to go hunting for food alone. As he kills some rabbits, he meets another man who asks about Adam’s whereabouts. Adam uses his gun to scare the man away.
The family lives in the woods in a trailer. James does not want Adam to interact with anyone else he meets in the woods. Even though Adam meets a stranger, he lies to James, saying he hasn’t met anyone in the woods. Although James and Mary are not Adam’s biological parents, the family dynamics are the same as every other family.
During supper, Adam asks Mary about his birth father. Mary gets angry and leaves the table, saying James raised him, so James is Adam’s father. Later that night, the police come over and ask James to surrender as he is wanted for violent crimes across three states. Instead of surrendering, James and Mary fight the officers. Amidst the chaos, James gives Adam a note with Jacob Waterson’s name and three addresses. One of the three people is Adam’s biological father. Adam is determined to find him, especially because both Mary and James die in the shootout.
Where does Adam find the first Jacob Waterson?
To travel far in search of his father, Adam robs a rifle seller. Next, he steals a car and begins his journey. The first address leads Adam to a club where a woman named Crystal informs him that Jacob is in prison. Determined to find his father, Adam drives to the prison and talks to Jacob about his life. Eventually, when Adam reveals the real reason he is talking to Jacob, Jacob assures him that he is not Adam’s father, as he has been in prison for 17 years. However, in prison, Jacob has a tip for Adam. Jacob tells Adam not to let his father off easy, as it is uncool to abandon a child. The conversation ends, and Jacob is grateful that he is not Adam’s father, as prison is not the ideal place to meet his father.
Surprisingly, in prison, Jacob’s compassion helps Adam. He drives to the second destination. However, Adam’s car breaks down. Since he is in a hurry, he stops a vehicle, showing his pistol so he can get a ride. Inside the car, people peep in from behind. The driver says they are immigrants. The group takes a washroom break. Meanwhile, Adam starts to feel guilty about using his pistol and apologizes to the driver.
During the journey, Adam reveals the purpose of his journey. The driver expresses the difficulties he had to face when he immigrated, walking for days in the desert. That is why he chooses to help people get into the land. Once Adam arrives at his following location, the driver gives Adam tips on how to win over the family before revealing his intention behind visiting.
Who is the next Jacob Waterson?
Getting out of the vehicle, Adam walks into a farmland and meets Rebecca Waterson, Jacob Waterson’s wife. As the driver has advised him, Adam asks for a place to sleep and food to eat for the night. Rebecca introduces her three girl kids and asks Adam to ask Jacob Waterson for permission to stay. When Adam meets the farmer, Jacob, Adam lies and says Rebecca is okay with him staying the night, so Jacob caves in. Through their conversation, Adam learns that Jacob grew up on this land and has always lived there. However, Jacob has struggled with the crops in the last year. During supper, the family reads a verse from the Bible before eating. Subsequently, the family learns that Adam has never read the Bible before, nor has he been to school.
However, when Rebecca says they were reading the passage about Adam and how he was the first man on earth who didn’t have parents. The explanation moves Adam, who is grateful for Jacob Waterson’s family. At night, Adam overhears one of the kids praying. Adam does the same, hoping farmer Jacob is his birth father since he has never felt compassion the way the family made him feel. Sadly, the next day, the police want to chat with Adam. He makes an excuse to get his stuff, jumps out the window, and runs. Luckily, James has taught Adam well, and he takes a horse that is nearby and gallops away.
Who does Adam meet in the final destination?
After riding the horse for a while, Adam arrives in an isolated land around the forest where an older man is painting. As soon as Adam meets the painter Jacob, he says that Adam is his son. But the older man says he is not. However, painter Jacob takes Adam inside his house, reveals that Adam’s father is Jacob Waterson Jr, and talks about his life for a while. Furthermore, painter Jacob admits that he has fallen out with his son. But he knows where he lives, and Adam grows fond of Jacob Waterson. When Adam learns that Jacob Waterson is not on talking terms with Jacob Waterson Jr, Adam invites Jacob Waterson to join him and make amends with his son.
Hesitant at first, but Jacob Waterson agrees. They stop their vehicle, put on a campfire, sing songs, and go to sleep. The next day, when Adam wakes up, he realizes Jacob Waterson is probably dead. Taking his belongings, Adam walks across the canyon to meet Jacob Waterson Jr. When Adam gets to the house, he meets a woman who seems to be Jacob Waterson Jr’s wife. Inside the house are two kids. One of them is named Adam. Both Adam and Jacob Waterson Jr’s wife want answers from Jacob Waterson Jr. Later, the wife drops Adam at a conference where businesspeople come to network.
Adam the First (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
What happens when Adam comes face-to-face with Jacob Waterson Jr?
In the conference, the speaker motivates the crowd by telling them about his life story and telling the audience to chase after their dreams. As a form of networking, the speaker asks the participants to play a game where they each express what their company is about to the person in front of them without revealing their names. Even though Adam does not have a business, he takes part as he knows Jacob Waterson Jr is at the conference. As Adam expected, Jacob Waterson Jr. does start talking and says he is an independent sales rep and travels around for his job. When the man tells his kids names, Adam realizes he is talking to Jacob Waterson Jr, and under the table, Adam keeps his pistol ready.
Now is his chance, and Adam asks Jacob Waterson Jr why he had abandoned him, to which Jacob Waterson Jr says that Adam was taken away from his wife and himself at the hospital. As a couple, they could never recover from it, and Adam’s parents separated. Jacob Waterson Jr. explains that a hospital note revealed Adam’s removal from his family so Mary could be a mother.
Still, James also promised to train Adam well so that one day, he would go looking for his biological father. As trained, Adam meets his birth father. But Adam is unsure about who he is. Later, Jacob Waterson Jr takes him out for a meal and tells him that his biological mother works hard. Every day, she sings the same song at the karaoke restaurant. As he finishes the sentence, we can hear a woman singing. Once the woman finishes singing and comes to wait at Adam’s table, she looks at Jacob Waterson Jr and realizes that the kid is Adam, and she is shocked.
In the end, Adam reunites with his birth parents, and seeing the joy and shock on his mother’s face indicates that she will accept Adam. The song Adam’s mother sings daily is perhaps meant to preserve Adam’s memory. The film has an open ending. It looks like Adam will live with his mother, considering Jacob Waterson Jr already has a new family. Adam is joyous as well to see his biological mother, mainly because he always thought she was dead. Through the story, we understand why James kept Adam hidden from other humans. Even though Adam was not his real son, both James and Mary loved him. While finding his birth father, Adam met some incredible people, learned their stories, and matured through the journey.
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