It offers patients a daily routine and helps them regain their footing in everyday life with therapeutic workshops and psychosocial rehabilitation support.

[7][8] The director Nicolas Philibert was aware of the project of the Adamant in the early 2010s through psychologist and psychoanalyst Linda de Zitter, whom he had known since the filming of La Moindre des choses (lit.

[19] Jordan Mintzer, for The Hollywood Reporter, stating that the film presents "an artful look at outsider artists", opined that "On the Adamant ultimately becomes a moving testament to what people are capable of, if they could just find the right place to do it.

"[20] Guy Lodge, reviewing at the Berlin Film Festival for Variety, wrote, "On the Adamant might not achieve the crossover success Philibert has found in the past, but it's a warm reminder of his perceptive gifts...."[21] Fabien Lemercier reviewing for Cineuropa praised the director: "Philibert's is a supple and natural approach, both methodical and poetic, which demonstrates great human and cinematographic understanding and which smoothly and modestly establishes contact in an environment where you have to find the right keys to connect.

Romney stated that, in contrast to the more detached observational approach of the Frederick Wiseman school, "The film is more about character and human presence, as opposed to depicting the overall functioning of this institution.

"[24] While announcing the award Kristen Stewart, the jury president called the film "masterfully crafted" and a "cinematic proof of the vital necessity of human expression."

Philibert asked in his acceptance speech if the jury members were "crazy"[25] and yet nevertheless thanked them, saying "that documentary can be considered to be cinema in its own right touches me deeply.