Great Movies About Mental Illness

Dementia:

Iris
Away from Her
The Father

Others driving one nuts:

Gaslight
Rebecca

Group madness:

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

 

Good Will Hunting

Being Flynn

 

Lots of movies already mentioned are better, but one I thought of was As Good As It Gets.

 

Technically Awakenings is about a neurological disorder rather than mental illness. But its rare in cinema to see the benefits and limitations of medication properly explored. I think the only other one is Lorenzo's Oil (a much more difficult viewing experience).

Having worked in learning disability and mental health service for 25 years my list of good, as in realistic depictions of mental illness and artistically satisfying films would be

A Beautiful Mind - a fantastic plot twist halfway through that totally changes the movie.

12 Monkeys (Brad Pitts performance stands out as genuine)

What's Eating Gilbert Grape - the whole family dynamic is perfect. Mum is mentally ill (clinical depression, probably undiagnosed) but di Caprio gives a note perfect performance as well as the child with a learning disability approaching adulthood. The increasing frustration of the older children taking on the parenting role is very realistic.

The Fisher King a beautiful movie. Perfect blend of fantasy and reality to sweeten the dark subject matter.

There are more, but these came to mind first.

 

It's incredibly well-acted, and also incredibly exasperating to watch. Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) is the kind of person that, in real life, I want to get as far away from as possible. I couldn't make it beyond about 40 minutes. Perhaps she becomes more sympathetic later in the story.

 

In the case of Psycho, not indirect at all.

Many horror films and crime thrillers involve villains suffering from some sort of mental infirmity.

 

Vera Miles goes crazy in the Hitchcock classic The Wrong Man

 

One of my favorite love stories is the modern-day (1965) gothic romance Rapture, starring Dean Stockwell, Melvyn Douglas and Patricia Gozzi, a force of nature who made very few films. She's a sheltered 15yo whose family thinks is crazy but is merely maladjusted due to her mother's death and father's repression. When Stockwell's fugitive character dons the scarecrow clothes she put out she pretends he's that figure come to life, though when she admits in the end she always knew he was real you're free to decide for yourself. Great actress, and a heart-wrenching movie.

 

Fantastic film. She's great in Sundays and Cybele too.

 

Didn't remember the name of the picture, didn't realize I had seen it. Yes, she's great, and Gunnell Lindbloom was lovely in it!

 

More interesting than great..


A nice, life affirming, ending to this one..

 

Bedlam (1946) - a great film about the treatment of the mentally ill.
Let's Scare Jessica to Death - well done approach to making the viewer feel schizophrenic.
As Good as it Gets - OCD
Requiem for a Dream, Brain Damage - addiction

 

Anyone mention Rain Man yet??? I remember being pretty floored by Dustin Hoffman's performance at the time...

 

I don't find him funny in the slightest, but Adam Sandler has turned out to be a really great dramatic actor.

That was the one I was going to mention, Anthony Hopkins revealing the confusion and distress behind a wall of bluster.

 

I don't think anyone would characterize autism of any kind -- particularly not an autistic savant -- as mental illness.

 

"Peeping Tom" showcases both the instability of the main character, and some of the reasons behind it.

 

one of my favorites! superbly acted by Crow!

 

I agree. It's a film that really makes you think too. I agree. Russell Crowe did a brilliant job in it.

 

The Babadook

 

Agreed. Autism in any form is not a mental illness. It's an alternate way that some brains are wired. There are many autistic people on these forums, though probably not occupying the same region of the spectrum as Hoffman's character did.

(Not sure I agree that nobody would classify it as a mental illness though, but I do agree that they shouldn't.)

 

The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Bad Seed (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
Psycho (1960)
Bunny Lake is Missing (1965)
The Swimmer (1968)
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Sybil (1976)
The Other Side Of Hell (1978)
Mommie Dearest (1981)
Frances (1982)
Psycho 2 (1983)
River's Edge (1986)
The Appointment Of Dennis Jennings (1988)
Awakenings (1990)
What About Bob? (1991)
The Fisher King (1991)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
12 Monkeys (1995)
Shattered Mind (1996)
Sling Blade (1996)
Pollock (2000)
Frozen with Fear (2001)
A Beautiful Mind (2001)
One Hour Photo (2002)
The Aviator (2004)
The Soloist (2009)
Occupant (2011)
Shutter Island (2010)
Love and Mercy (2014)

 

I wouldn't normally consider autism as a mental illness but Charlie Babbitt (Dustin Hoffman) was living at the "Wallbrook mental institution" at the beginning and (spoiler alert) end of the movie though...

 

JOKER

 

Nuts- with Streisand showing PTSD doesn't render you incompetent.