Film List for Psychology Students

Below is a list of movies that include some aspect of psychology. At the risk of being diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, I have put a  *  next to my favorites.  If you have a movie you would like to watch for your project not on this list, please run it by me.  While I have provided nice, neat categories of disorders, many films feature more than one psychological concept.

The most frequent psychological disorders featured in award-winning films:

Antisocial personality disorder - 23% of all themes

Narcissistic personality disorder- 19% of all themes

   

Substance Use Disorders

When a Man Loves a Woman—The story of alcoholic wife and mother, played by Meg Ryan, her treatment, and her relationship with her husband. (Alcoholism)

Clean and Sober-- Michael Keaton struggles with alcoholism and attends rehab. (Alcoholism)

Anxiety Disorders

Birdy—Two childhood friends returning Vietnam vets dealing with the aftermath of their combat experiences - one physically and the other mentally. (PTSD)

*Reign on Me—A man tries to survive day-to-day after a horrific plane crash claims his family. (PTSD)

Copycat-- Sigourney Weaver plays an agoraphobic psychologist. Discuss how accurately is the agoraphobia portrayed. (Agoraphobia)

**The Deer Hunter—Great film!!!  Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Best Actor.  Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep - portray the impact of the Vietnam War in anytown, America.  It shows their lives before, during, and after the conflict. Another look at PTSD. Christopher Walken's Nicky is one worth discussion. Also, consider the traumas they experienced as prisoners of war. (PTSD)

First Blood—Sylvester Stallone plays a Vietnam Vet has trouble adjusting to civilian life after he finds the last of his company dead from cancer--most likely a result of Agent Orange sprayed on American soldiers by their own. (PTSD)

Lars and the Real Girl--A smart, funny, sensitive film about a young man who strikes up a relationship with a doll and the town who befriends the two of them in order to help Lars. (Social Anxiety)

Matchstick Men-- Nicholas Cage plays a con man with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Discuss the accuracy of the diagnosis.   Discuss the ethics of the treatment he received. (OCD)

Ordinary People--Academy Award winner for Best Picture and Best Actor.  This is the story of how a family deals with trauma and loss.  Here you’ll see one of the few positive portrayals of a therapist played by Judd Hirsh.

The King's Speech--The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.  (Social Anxiety)

Napoleon Dynamite--An awkward teenager befriends Deb, whose portrayal of social anxiety is spot on.  (Social Anxiety)

Dissociative Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder)

Fight Club—This needs to be watched twice to “get it.”  After you've seen it once, watch it again once you know what to look for. (DID)

Sybil--The movie that started it all!   No one was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder before this book and film came out.  Might Sybil have PTSD and not DID?

The Three Faces of Eve—Joan Woodward won Best Actress for her portrayal of the three personalities of Eve—Eve White, Eve Black, Jane.  The film is based on a true story. (DID)

Mood Disorders

Harold and Maude--A wealthy, 20-year-old man obsessed with death meets an elderly woman at a funeral and develops his first meaningful relationship. It portrays faked suicides, and a real one, but are the characters truly depressed or just eccentric?  This is a real cult classic. (Depression)

The Hours--Academy Award winner for Best Actress.  This is a well done portrayal of the painful depths and hopelessness of depression and its effects on others.  Virginia Woolf, who is writing a novel, alongside another woman is reading the book in the 1950s, and a third present day woman is living it. Discuss the motivations for the different suicides in the movies. (Depression, bipolar disorder)

Lethal Weapon--The first of the series has a suicidal Mel Gibson paired with Danny Glover. Not many cops would want a partner with a death wish.  The film features Mel Gibson before he went off the deep end. (Depression)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest-- Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress among other awards.  This is a quintessential psychology film.  Randle Patrick MacMurphy (RPM) fakes insanity to avoid jail only to have to deal with Nurse Ratched (what does a ratchet wrench do?). (Anti-social Personality Disorder)

*The Prince of Tides--Barbra Streisand as therapist helping Tom’s sister with her suicide attempts. Discuss the unethical conduct by a mental health professional.  Is she Tom’s therapist?  Discuss PTSD as the characters live through a horrific event. (PTSD, Depression)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?--Academy Award winner for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.  Alcohol abuse, narcissism, conversion disorder, marital dysfunction, make this a psychology class must see.   What is really going on here???  Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton portray the older married couple whose fights are full of pathos.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Iris—An aging couple deals with the devastating effects of the disease.

Without Her—See Iris above.

The Notebook—There are two parallel stories being told.   One is the present day where a couple has grown old and live in a home; the other is the story the main character reads from the notebook in which he tells how he and Allie met, fell in love, and how their lives changed. Their story is altered by Allie’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Developmental Issues

I Am Sam-- A developmentally disabled man (Sean Penn) fights for custody of his daughter (Dakota Fanning), and in the process teaches his lawyer about love and family.

Radio--A high school football coach changes the life of a developmentally disabled young man in this heart-warming tale.

Personality Disorders

**Gone with the Wind—A woman fights to save her family and her family’s estate against all odds in a man’s world during the Civil War era. (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) 

Patten--The story of General George S. Patton, Jr. during World War II. His battlefield genius garners him fear and respect from the Germans, and resentment and misunderstanding from the Allies. A military historian and poet, he believes he was a warrior in many past lives, and that he is destined for something great during this life, but his stubbornness and controversial methods nearly prevent the fulfillment of that destiny. ~Written by Jeff Hanson  (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) 

**All About Eve—Arguably the best film about the theater.  Who is the narcissist?  Are there more than one?  Bette Davis delivers one of the greatest lines ever when asked if she was going to be difficult all night at her party she replies, "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night."  (Narcissistic Personality Disorder)

Sleeping with the Enemy--What seems to be the perfect marriage is really a woman's nightmare.  Julia Roberts stars as a woman who tries bravely to leave an abusive and murderous husband. (Narcissistic Personality Disorder) 

Autism

Rainman—Tom Cruise finds out about an older brother, Dustin Hoffman, he never knew he had.  The two go on a cross-country adventure getting to know each other.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?—Johnny Depp copes with an obese, reclusive mother, an autistic brother (Leonardo DiCaprio), and growing up in this wonderful film.

Temple Grandin--After having social difficulty in high school, an autistic woman earns a Ph.D. Aided along the way by a supportive mother and teachers, Temple rises to the top of her field in the animal husbandry.  

Psychotic Disorders

Donnie Darko--While this is a science fiction film, if you analyze it as an example of schizophrenia, this will be fine.  (Schizophrenia)

Conspiracy Theory--starring Julia Roberts Mel Gibson before his own break, the main character suffers from paranoia.  He sees conspiracies everywhere.  (Paranoid Personality Disorder)

A Beautiful Mind--starring Russell Crowe, based on the real life of John Forbes Nash, Jr., a mathematical genius, slides into a world of visual and auditory hallucinations.  (Schizophrenia)