Craig, a sixteen-year-old hears the voices of his parents and his sister say, “Don’t do it,” and wakes up in a sweat.

His parents love him. They’re nice people, so what’s the problem? Stress. He doesn’t want to disappoint his family, especially not his dad.

This is his life, and one Sunday morning at 5 a.m., he wakes up from his recurring nightmare, shaking.  He’s standing on the metal railing, getting ready to jump off a bridge, and this time, he doesn’t wake up before the jump, he wakes up as he’s falling.While his family is still asleep, Craig gets dressed and walks to a hospital. He tells the receptionist, “I want to commit suicide.” She hands him a clipboard and says, “Fill this out,” and laughs at something her friend says on the phone.

Craig is admitted to the adult psychiatric ward, and is placed in a room with a middle-aged Egyptian man, who does nothing but sleep all day. He decides he made a mistake and wants to be released. He cannot. He is forced to stay for a minimum of five days. Everyone is much older, except for one teenage girl who cuts herself.

His parents show up, and his mother is happy he admitted himself. They bring some clothes and toiletries and leave him there. What happens during the five days is amazing. Craig rediscovers his love and talent for drawing. He also finds out he’s a great rock singer when forced to sing.

He bonds with a man in the ward, who has an eight-year-old daughter. They play basketball, and he gives Craig the positive attention and advice that he is not receiving from his own father. Through this, Craig also changes people in the psychiatric ward, and when he leaves after five days, he’s a different person. He’s learned to become a kid with a passion for life.

To some of you, this may sound like a Hollywood movie, and yes, “It’s Kind of a Funny Story.”