The Best Movies Portraying Mental Illness
by noor-anabtawi | created - 27 Oct 2015 | updated - 12 Dec 2021 | PublicThe media's infamous for its misrepresentation and stigmatization of mental illness. I don't think this is a fair assumption. Society has always condemned the mentally ill, casting them out or accusing them of supernatural possession and the like. This was long before the film industry came into play. We, as humans, instinctually ostracise those who are different. Here I present to you a list of films that attempt to counter this mainstream ignorance, improving the portrayal of the mentally ill; or, in some cases, exploring the darker features of some of these disorders. Whoever you are, I highly recommend you check them out :)
I've also included Psychological thrillers to the mix. All in all this is a personal list I've created, and will continue to add to, as I begin my way through Psychiatry residency training.
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1. Clean, Shaven (1993)
Not Rated | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a man suffering from schizophrenia is released from a mental institution, he attempts to get his daughter back from her adoptive family.
Director: Lodge Kerrigan | Stars: Peter Greene, Alice Levitt, Megan Owen, Jennifer MacDonald
Votes: 6,025
2. Take Shelter (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart
Votes: 108,183 | Gross: $1.73M
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,078,547 | Gross: $34.40M
4. A Beautiful Mind (2001)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery
A 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.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 987,431 | Gross: $170.74M
5. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,068,942 | Gross: $138.43M
6. Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.
Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, R.D. Reid
Votes: 155,467 | Gross: $5.97M
7. Girl, Interrupted (1999)
R | 127 min | Biography, Drama
A 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.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy
Votes: 211,463 | Gross: $28.87M
8. The Hunt (2012)
R | 115 min | Drama
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm
Votes: 364,606 | Gross: $0.69M
9. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama
A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 254,179 | Gross: $9.17M
10. Mr. Nobody (2009)
R | 141 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael | Stars: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh-Dan Pham
Votes: 245,907 | Gross: $0.00M
11. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell
Votes: 167,836 | Gross: $1.74M
12. Adam (I) (2009)
PG-13 | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger's Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Director: Max Mayer | Stars: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving
Votes: 35,780 | Gross: $2.28M
13. Mary and Max (2009)
Not Rated | 92 min | Animation, Comedy, Drama
In 1976 Melbourne, a lonely 8-year-old girl strikes up a correspondence with an unlikely pen pal: a severely obese 44-year-old New Yorker with Asperger's syndrome.
Director: Adam Elliot | Stars: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries
Votes: 186,861
14. Spider (2002)
R | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave
Votes: 41,137 | Gross: $1.64M
15. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
R | 133 min | Drama
In 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.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Peter Brocco
Votes: 1,072,851 | Gross: $112.00M
16. Thin (2006)
TV-14 | 102 min | Documentary
The story of four women suffering from anorexia and bulimia in South Florida.
Director: Lauren Greenfield | Stars: Shelly Guillory, Brittany Robinson, Alisa Williams, Polly Williams
Votes: 2,044
17. Loving Lampposts (2010)
Not Rated | 84 min | Documentary
What would you call a four year old who caresses all the lampposts in the park? Quirky? Unusual? Or sick? Such labels are at the center of the debate about autism. Is it a disease or a ... See full summary »
Director: Todd Drezner | Stars: Nadine Antonelli, Simon Baron-Cohen, Billy, Kristina Chew
Votes: 70
18. Through a Glass Darkly (1961)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
Recently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow, Lars Passgård
Votes: 27,392
19. Keane (2004)
R | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A disheveled man desperately searches New York City for his young daughter.
Director: Lodge Kerrigan | Stars: Damian Lewis, Liza Colón-Zayas, John Tormey, Brenda Denmark
Votes: 5,819 | Gross: $0.03M
20. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
PG | 122 min | Drama
Disturbed Blanche DuBois moves in with her sister in New Orleans and is tormented by her brutish brother-in-law while her reality crumbles around her.
Director: Elia Kazan | Stars: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden
Votes: 114,399 | Gross: $8.00M
21. Blue Jasmine (2013)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 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.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard, Sally Hawkins
Votes: 212,606 | Gross: $33.41M
22. I've Loved You So Long (2008)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
A woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.
Director: Philippe Claudel | Stars: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grévill
Votes: 20,711 | Gross: $3.17M
23. The Hours (2002)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama, Romance
The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.
Director: Stephen Daldry | Stars: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane
Votes: 138,544 | Gross: $41.68M
24. Take Shelter (2011)
R | 120 min | Drama, Thriller
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Director: Jeff Nichols | Stars: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Tova Stewart
Votes: 108,183 | Gross: $1.73M
25. Away from Her (2006)
PG-13 | 110 min | Drama
A 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.
Director: Sarah Polley | Stars: Julie Christie, Michael Murphy, Gordon Pinsent, Stacey LaBerge
Votes: 23,089 | Gross: $4.57M
26. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell
Votes: 167,836 | Gross: $1.74M
27. Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The chronically suicidal Wilbur, and his good-hearted big brother, Harbour, are in their thirties when, their father dies and leaves them with nothing but a worn down second-hand bookshop in Glasgow.
Director: Lone Scherfig | Stars: Jamie Sives, Adrian Rawlins, Shirley Henderson, Lisa McKinlay
Votes: 8,078 | Gross: $0.23M
28. Ratcatcher (1999)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
A naïve young lad navigates the dirty squalid streets of 1973 Glasgow and the poor youth around him.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews, William Eadie, Michelle Stewart
Votes: 11,788 | Gross: $0.22M
29. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After 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.
Director: David O. Russell | Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver
Votes: 742,998 | Gross: $132.09M
30. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
R | 102 min | Drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
Votes: 899,181 | Gross: $3.64M
31. Love & Mercy (2014)
PG-13 | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music
In the 60s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 80s, he's a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist, Dr. Eugene Landy.
Director: Bill Pohlad | Stars: John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti
Votes: 42,625 | Gross: $12.55M
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