Films Illustrating Psychopathology Danny Wedding Mary Ann Boyd ...

208 Movies and Mental Illness
Swimming Pool (2002) Drama/Mystery ΨΨΨΨ
Mystery writer leaves London to find peace, quiet,
and inspiration at her publisher’s secluded home
in a French village. She overcomes her writer’s
block by writing about the adventures of a seductive,
provocative young woman, the publisher’s
daughter, who has spontaneously moved in.
“I always thought it would be
better to be a fake somebody
than a real nobody.”
Tom Ripley describing his
secretive, double-life
in The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
Matt Damon is the deceitful, charming, clever, impersonator,
Tom Ripley, who manipulates anyone
in his path until he sees enough of his “shadow”
that he can no longer turn away. Breakthrough film
for supporting actor Jude Law.
Tao of Steve, The (2000) Comedy Ψ
Self-serving, amateur philosopher uses some ideas
from Buddhist philosophy to pursue and sleep
with women.
Tape (2001) Drama ΨΨΨΨ
Creative, engaging, and honest story of how people
manipulate other to meet their own desires and
how they react when their secrets are exposed. It
also shows what can happen when someone has
unresolved psychological issues. The entire film
takes place in one motel room with only three characters—all
young veterans—Ethan Hawke, Robert
Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurmond.
Taxi Driver (1976) Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
The premorbid personality of Travis Bickle illustrates
delusional paranoid thinking. Bickle would
probably meet the criteria for a diagnosis of
schizotypal personality disorder.
Thin Blue Line, The (1988) Documentary ΨΨΨ
Gripping documentary examining the unjust incarceration
of a man accused of the murder of a Texas
policeman.
Toto le Heros (1991) Drama/Comedy ΨΨΨΨ
An old man in a nursing home reviews his life and
his lifelong hatred for his next-door neighbor, who
appeared to have every advantage. Wonderful
example of a paranoid personality disorder.
“You talkin’ to me? [slower] You
talking to me? You talking to me?
Well, then, who the hell else are
you talking— you talking to me?
Well, I’m the only one here.”
Travis Bickle rehearsing
in Taxi Driver
Unfaithful (2002) Drama/Suspense Ψ
Married man (Richard Gere) finds out his wife (Diane
Lane) is having an affair and he seeks revenge.
Violette Noziere (1978) Biography/Crime ΨΨ
Claude Chabrol film based on the true story about
a teenage girl who poisoned her parents, eventually
killing her father, whom she claimed had raped
and abused her.
Wannsee Conference, The (1984) Historical/
War ΨΨΨ
Recreation of the Berlin meeting in which Nazi officers
first outlined the “final solution” for dealing
with the “Jewish problem.”
Whisperers, The (1966) Drama Ψ
Dame Edith Evans stars as a lonely old woman,
divorced from her husband and estranged from
her son, who devotes her days to worry and
paranoid ramblings.
“Loneliness is the human
condition. Love humiliates you.
Hatred cradles you.”
Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid, teaching
her philosophy to her teenage
daughter Astrid in White Oleander
White Oleander (2002) Drama ΨΨΨΨ
Young girl is tossed around from home to home
when her mother is incarcerated. Range of mother
figures played by Michelle Pfeiffer (Antisocial),
From: Wedding, D., Boyd, M.A., & Niemiec, R.M. Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology
© 2005 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers (www.hogrefe.com)