Psychology/Psychotherapy Films
A list of films which explicitly depict psychotherapy, psychopathology, or psychodynamic themes as a major feature of the film.
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- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsIngrid BergmanGregory PeckMichael ChekhovA psychiatrist protects the identity of an amnesia patient accused of murder while attempting to recover his memory.Psychoanalysis
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsChester MorrisRalph BellamyAnn DvorakGangster Hal Wilson takes psychiatrist Dr. Shelby hostage. While captive, the doctor analyzes Wilson as though he were a patient.Psychoanalysis
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsDonald SutherlandMary Tyler MooreJudd HirschThe accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father and the guilt-ridden younger son.Psychotherapy
- DirectorMark SandrichStarsFred AstaireGinger RogersRalph BellamyA psychiatrist falls in love with the woman he's supposed to be nudging into marriage with someone else.Psychoanalysis
- DirectorRobert MullanStarsElisabeth MossDavid TennantMichael GambonDuring the 1960s, a renegade Scottish psychiatrist courts controversy within his profession for his approach to the field, and for the unique community he creates for his patients to inhabit.Schizophrenia
- DirectorMichael AlmereydaStarsPeter SarsgaardWinona RyderJim GaffiganIn 1961, famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of radical behavior experiments that tested ordinary humans' willingness to obey authority.Experimental Research
- DirectorKyle Patrick AlvarezStarsEzra MillerTye SheridanBilly CrudupIn 1971, twenty-four male students are selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.Experimental Research
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsMichael FassbenderKeira KnightleyViggo MortensenA look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.Psychoanalysis
- DirectorSamuel FullerStarsPeter BreckConstance TowersGene EvansBent on winning a Pulitzer Prize, a journalist commits himself to a mental institution to solve a strange and unclear murder.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorAnatole LitvakStarsOlivia de HavillandMark StevensLeo GennA detailed chronicle of a woman during her stay in a mental institution.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorJohn HustonStarsMontgomery CliftSusannah YorkLarry ParksAn examination of Czech-Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud's career when he began to treat patients diagnosed with hysteria, using the radical technique of hypnosis.Psychoanalysis
- StarsDavid SuchetHelen BourneDavid SwiftThe life and times of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.Psychoanalysis
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsWinona RyderAngelina JolieClea DuVallA directionless teenager, Susanna, is rushed to Claymoore, a mental institution, after a supposed suicide attempt. There, she befriends a group of troubled women who deeply influence her life.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioEmily MortimerMark RuffaloTeddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two US marshals, are sent to an asylum on a remote island in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient, where Teddy uncovers a shocking truth about the place.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorMark RobsonStarsBoris KarloffAnna LeeBilly HouseNell Bowen, the protégé of Lord Mortimer, wants to help change the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Though she tries to reform Bedlam, the cruel Master Sims who runs it has her committed there, but ultimately, it's the lunatics who've taken over the asylum.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorNunnally JohnsonStarsJoanne WoodwardDavid WayneLee J. CobbA doctor treats a woman suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.Dissociative Identity Disorder
- DirectorFred M. WilcoxStarsWalter PidgeonAnne FrancisLeslie NielsenA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsRooney MaraChanning TatumJude LawA young woman's world unravels when a drug prescribed by her psychiatrist has unexpected side effects.Psychiatry
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames SpaderHolly HunterElias KoteasAfter getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsMichael CaineAngie DickinsonNancy AllenA mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.Psychotherapy
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsAl PacinoPaul SorvinoKaren AllenA police officer goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer who is preying on gay men.Psychological Themes
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsTippi HedrenSean ConneryMartin GabelMark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them.Kleptomania
- DirectorDenzel WashingtonStarsDenzel WashingtonDerek LukeJoy BryantAntwone Fisher, a young navy man, is forced to see a psychiatrist after a violent outburst against a fellow crewman. During the course of treatment a painful past is revealed and a new hope begins.Psychotherapy
- DirectorPhilip RidleyStarsViggo MortensenLindsay DuncanJeremy CooperIn the 1950s, a young boy living with his troublesome family in rural USA fantasizes that a neighboring widow is actually a vampire, responsible for a number of disappearances in the area.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJason BegheJohn PankowKate McNeilA quadriplegic man has a trained monkey help him with his paralysis, until the little monkey begins to develop feelings, and rage, against its new master.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRobin WilliamsMatt DamonBen AffleckWill Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.Psychotherapy
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowBirgitta ValbergGunnel LindblomIn 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.Psychological Themes
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsRichard BurtonPeter FirthColin BlakelyA psychiatrist attempts to uncover a troubled stable boy's disturbing obsession with horses.Psychotherapy
- DirectorBarbra StreisandStarsBarbra StreisandNick NolteBlythe DannerA troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.Psychotherapy
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsBibi AnderssonLiv UllmannMargaretha KrookA nurse is put in charge of a mute actress and finds that their personae are melding together.Psychological Themes
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsJohn LithgowLolita DavidovichSteven BauerThe oncologist wife of a prominent child psychologist suspects her husband has an unhealthy scientific obsession with their child, unaware of what - or who - is really going on inside his head.Dissociative Identity Disorder
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAmber HeardMamie GummerDanielle PanabakerAn institutionalized young woman becomes terrorized by a ghost.Psych Institution/Asylum, Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorNicholas KazanStarsJames SpaderMädchen AmickFredric LehneA successful businessman tries to uncover what is wrong with his wife.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsJohn LoneBarbara SukowaIn 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling - but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks.Gender Dysphoria
- DirectorEdward D. Wood Jr.StarsEdward D. Wood Jr.Bela LugosiLyle TalbotA psychiatrist tells the stories of a transvestite (Glen or Glenda) and a pseudohermaphrodite (Alan or Anne).Gender Dysphoria
- DirectorSteven ShainbergStarsJames SpaderMaggie GyllenhaalJeremy DaviesA young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodJessica WalterDonna MillsThe life of a disc jockey is turned upside down after a romantic encounter with an obsessed fan.Borderline Personality Disorder
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsElizabeth TaylorKatharine HepburnMontgomery CliftA surgeon is assigned the case of a young woman whose aunt wants her lobotomized to cover up a family secret.Psychological Themes
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsPeter O'TooleAlastair SimArthur LoweA member of the House of Lords dies, leaving his estate to his son. Unfortunately, his son thinks he is Jesus Christ. Their other, somewhat more respectable family members plot to steal the estate from him; murder and mayhem ensue.Schizophrenia
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsCharles BoyerIngrid BergmanJoseph CottenTen years after her aunt was murdered in their London home, a woman returns from Italy in the 1880s to resume residence with her new husband. His obsessive interest in the home rises from a secret that may require driving his wife insane.Psychological Themes
- DirectorM. Night ShyamalanStarsJames McAvoyAnya Taylor-JoyHaley Lu RichardsonThree girls are kidnapped by a man with a diagnosed 23 distinct personalities. They must try to escape before the apparent emergence of a frightful new 24th.Dissociative Identity Disorder
- DirectorNicholas RayStarsJames MasonBarbara RushWalter MatthauA seriously-ill schoolteacher becomes dependent on a "miracle" drug that begins to affect his sanity.Narcissistic Personality Disorder
- DirectorMary HarronStarsChristian BaleJustin TherouxJosh LucasA wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.Antisocial Personality Disorder
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsTerence StampSamantha EggarMona WashbourneA man kidnaps a woman and holds her hostage just for the pleasure of having her there.Psychological Themes
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsGena RowlandsPeter FalkFred DraperAlthough wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.Bipolar Disorder
- DirectorMike BinderStarsAdam SandlerDon CheadleJada Pinkett SmithA man who lost his family in the September 11 attack on New York City runs into his old college roommate. Rekindling the friendship is the one thing that appears able to help the man recover from his grief.Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- DirectorJeremy LevenStarsJohnny DeppMarlon BrandoFaye DunawayA psychiatrist must cure a young patient who presents himself as Don Juan, the world's greatest lover.Psychotherapy
- DirectorPete DocterRonnie Del CarmenStarsAmy PoehlerBill HaderLewis BlackAfter young Riley is uprooted from her Midwest life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions - Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness - conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house, and school.Psychological Themes
- DirectorJonas PateStarsKevin SpaceyMark WebberKeke PalmerUnable to cope with a recent personal tragedy, LA's top celebrity shrink turns into a pothead with no concern for his appearance and a creeping sense of his inability to help his patients.Psychotherapy
- DirectorCameron CroweStarsTom CruisePenélope CruzCameron DiazA self-indulgent and vain publishing magnate finds his privileged life upended after a vehicular accident with a resentful lover.Psychological Themes, Psychotherapy
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.Schizophrenia
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsKeir DulleaJanet MargolinHoward Da SilvaTeenager David Clemens develops a hysterical fear that he will die if he comes into physical contact with another person. Perturbed, David's overbearing mother places him in a home for mentally disturbed young people.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorFrank OzStarsBill MurrayRichard DreyfussJulie HagertyA successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.Psychotherapy
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsRobert De NiroBilly CrystalLisa KudrowA comedy about a psychiatrist whose number-one patient is an insecure mob boss.Psychotherapy
- DirectorHarold RamisStarsRobert De NiroBilly CrystalLisa KudrowMobster Paul Vitti is released into Dr. Ben Sobol's care, where only more chaos ensues.Psychotherapy
- DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.Psychological Themes
- DirectorNicole KassellStarsKevin BaconKyra SedgwickYasiin BeyA child molester returns to his hometown after 12 years in prison and attempts to start a new life.Psychological Themes
- DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorLodge KerriganStarsPeter GreeneAlice LevittMegan OwenAfter a man suffering from schizophrenia is released from a mental institution, he attempts to get his daughter back from her adoptive family.Schizophrenia
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsGeneviève BujoldHeidi von PalleskeTwin gynecologists take full advantage of the fact that nobody can tell them apart, until their relationship begins to deteriorate over a woman.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsRobert BlakeScott WilsonJohn ForsytheTwo ex-cons murder a family in a robbery attempt, before going on the run from the authorities. The police try to piece together the details of the murder in an attempt to track down the killers.Psychological Themes
- DirectorDavid KoeppStarsJohnny DeppMaria BelloJohn TurturroA successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.Dissociative Identity Disorder
- DirectorDenis VilleneuveStarsLubna AzabalMélissa Désormeaux-PoulinMaxim GaudetteTwins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJohn CusackRay LiottaAmanda PeetStranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.Dissociative Identity Disorder
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsMichael ShannonJessica ChastainShea WhighamPlagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.Schizophrenia
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.Psychological Themes
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsMia FarrowJohn CassavetesRuth GordonA young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.Schizophrenia
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsSusannah YorkRene AuberjonoisMarcel BozzuffiWhilst writing a children's book, a woman interrupted by images unsure if they may, or may not be realSchizophrenia
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.Schizophrenia
- DirectorTarsem SinghStarsJennifer LopezVince VaughnVincent D'OnofrioAn F.B.I. Agent persuades a social worker, who is adept with a new experimental technology, to enter the mind of a comatose serial killer in order to learn where he has hidden his latest kidnap victim.Psychological Themes
- DirectorJason Spingarn-KoffStarsTeasa CopprueThis feature-length documentary follows a group of people whose lives are dramatically transformed by a virtual world -- reshaping relationships, identities, and ultimately the very notion of reality.Psychological Themes
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsJames CaanJohn HousemanMaud AdamsIn a corporate-controlled future, an ultra-violent sport known as Rollerball represents the world, and one of its powerful athletes is out to defy those who want him out of the game.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsGeorge C. ScottPeter BoyleSeason HubleyA religious businessman from Michigan has to venture into the world of pornography in California, desperately searching for his runaway teenage daughter.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsGene HackmanAl PacinoDorothy TristanAn ex-con drifter with a penchant for brawling is amused by a homeless ex-sailor, so they partner up as they head east together.Psychological Themes
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRock HudsonFrank CampanellaJohn RandolphAn unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity - one that comes with its own price.Psychological Themes
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsSheryl LeeRay WiseMädchen AmickLaura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.Psychological Themes
- DirectorEdmund GouldingStarsTyrone PowerJoan BlondellColeen GrayThe rise and fall of Stanton Carlisle, a mentalist whose lies and deceit prove to be his downfall.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsBradley CooperCate BlanchettToni ColletteA grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorHubert CornfieldStarsSidney PoitierBobby DarinPeter FalkA black prison psychiatrist is assigned the distasteful task of helping a paranoid American Nazi charged with sedition.Psychotherapy
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsMax RecordsCatherine O'HaraForest WhitakerYearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.Psychodynamic Themes
- DirectorFlorian ZellerStarsAnthony HopkinsOlivia ColmanMark GatissA man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.Dementia/Alzheimers
- DirectorSarah PolleyStarsJulie ChristieMichael MurphyGordon PinsentA man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.Dementia/Alzheimers
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJean-Louis TrintignantEmmanuelle RivaIsabelle HuppertGeorges and Anne are an octogenarian couple. They are cultivated, retired music teachers. Their daughter, also a musician, lives in Britain with her family. One day, Anne has a stroke, and the couple's bond of love is severely tested.Dementia/Alzheimers
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsCate BlanchettAlec BaldwinPeter SarsgaardA New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks like a million dollars but isn't bringing money, peace or love.Bipolar Disorder
- DirectorAndrzej ZulawskiStarsIsabelle AdjaniSam NeillMargit CarstensenA woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.Psychological Themes
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsMichael DouglasGlenn CloseAnne ArcherA married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.Borderline Personality Disorder
- DirectorDavid O. RussellStarsBradley CooperJennifer LawrenceRobert De NiroAfter a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.Bipolar Disorder
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsJim CarreyVirginia MadsenLogan LermanWalter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.Schizophrenia
- DirectorIain SoftleyStarsKevin SpaceyJeff BridgesMary McCormackPROT is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a faraway planet named K-PAX. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.Psychotherapy
- DirectorMel BrooksStarsMel BrooksMadeline KahnCloris LeachmanA psychiatrist with intense acrophobia (fear of heights) goes to work for a mental institution run by doctors who appear to be crazier than their patients, and have secrets that they are willing to commit murder to keep.Psychotherapy
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsSam NeillJürgen ProchnowJulie CarmenAn insurance investigator begins discovering that the impact a horror writer's books have on his fans is more than inspirational.Psychological Themes
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.Psych Institution/Asylum
- DirectorLance YoungStarsCraig ShefferTerence StampSheryl LeeA newly married happy couple visits a sex therapist to determine why the wife can't achieve an orgasm with her husband. This causes a horrific suppressed memory to emerge and she becomes more and more distant.Psychotherapy
- DirectorEric BressJ. Mackye GruberStarsAshton KutcherAmy SmartMelora WaltersEvan Treborn suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life by reading his journal.Psychological Themes
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsJim CarreyKate WinsletTom WilkinsonWhen their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.Psychological Themes
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.Amnesia, Psychological Themes