Psycho Cinema
A list of therapeutic films compiled by the Florida Institute of Technology counseling and psychological services. (http://www.fit.edu/caps/cinema.php)
The films are listed in following categories: addiction, domestic violence or rape, obsessive compulsive disorder, romantic relationship struggles, childhood trauma, prejudice, suicide, eating disorders, family issues and relationships, loss, psychological thrillers, and gay and lesbian relationships
The films are listed in following categories: addiction, domestic violence or rape, obsessive compulsive disorder, romantic relationship struggles, childhood trauma, prejudice, suicide, eating disorders, family issues and relationships, loss, psychological thrillers, and gay and lesbian relationships
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- DirectorBetty ThomasStarsSandra BullockViggo MortensenDominic WestA big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after ruining her sister's wedding and crashing a stolen limousine.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMatt DillonKelly LynchJames Le GrosA pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsAl PacinoKitty WinnAlan VintFollows the lives of heroin addicts who frequent "Needle Park" in New York City.
- DirectorLuis MandokiStarsMeg RyanAndy GarciaEllen BurstynThe seemingly perfect relationship between a man and his wife is tested as a result of her alcoholism.
- DirectorBlake EdwardsStarsJack LemmonLee RemickCharles BickfordAn alcoholic marries a young woman and systematically addicts her to booze so that they can share his "passion" together.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsMickey RourkeFaye DunawayAlice KrigeBased on the life of successful poet Charles Bukowski and his exploits in Hollywood during the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsJane FondaJeff BridgesRaul JuliaA washed up, alcoholic actress who is prone to blackouts wakes up next to a murdered man. Did she kill him and, if not, is she in danger?
- DirectorSidney J. FurieStarsDiana RossBilly Dee WilliamsRichard PryorThe story of the troubled life and career of the legendary Jazz singer, Billie Holiday.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsJack NicholsonMeryl StreepCarroll BakerAn alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
- DirectorGlenn Gordon CaronStarsMichael KeatonKathy BakerMorgan FreemanA hustling drug addict checks himself into rehabilitation to escape trouble with the law and realizes that it's exactly what he needs.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsLinda BlairLarry HagmanVerna BloomThis movie is a teaching tool about a teenage girl struggling with alcoholism to cope with her feelings of insecurity and the usual problems of adolescence.
- DirectorMichael TuchnerStarsGeorge SegalStockard ChanningAndrew RobinsonA young drug-addicted teenager's family are in denial about it. She's sent to an intervention program where the addicts are confronted--by one another and by their families--in supervised groups. The girl's biggest obstacle to sobriety: her mother, who wants to remove her from the program because she won't believe that anything is wrong.
- DirectorDaniel PetrieStarsJames WoodsJoBeth WilliamsJames GarnerThe story of Bill Wilson and the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.
- DirectorHarold BeckerStarsJames WoodsSean YoungJohn KapelosA real estate developer who enjoyed short-lived success seeks to regain his edge by using cocaine, but takes himself to new lows as he gets lost in the downward spiral of drug addiction.
- DirectorMike FiggisStarsNicolas CageElisabeth ShueJulian SandsBen Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsEllen BurstynJared LetoJennifer ConnellyThe drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsJamie FoxxRegina KingKerry WashingtonThe story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
- DirectorTed DemmeStarsJohnny DeppPenélope CruzFranka PotenteThe story of how George Jung, along with the Medellín Cartel headed by Pablo Escobar, established the American cocaine market in the 1970s in the United States.
- DirectorMichael CristoferStarsAngelina JolieFaye DunawayElizabeth MitchellThe story of the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s, from her meteoric rise to the forefront of the modeling industry, to her untimely death.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsEwan McGregorEwen BremnerJonny Lee MillerRenton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJoaquin PhoenixReese WitherspoonGinnifer GoodwinA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMichael DouglasBenicio Del ToroCatherine Zeta-JonesA conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsAl PacinoMichelle PfeifferHector ElizondoJohnny has just been released from prison, and gets a job in a café beside waitress Frankie. Frankie is a bit of a loner, but Johnny is determined their romance will blossom.
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsJulia RobertsPatrick BerginKevin AndersonA young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
- DirectorHarry WinerStarsPatricia WettigStephen LangShelley HackTrue story about a rape victim who took a stand that rape is never the victim's fault and inspired many other victims who felt shame about what had happened to them to speak out.
- DirectorRadha BharadwajStarsMadeleine StoweAlan RickmanIn a drab police state, an author of children's books is interrogated by a sadistic, secret policeman. She's under suspicion of embedding anti-government messages in her stories.
- DirectorRobert GreenwaldStarsFarrah FawcettPaul Le MatRichard MasurAn abused battered wife has had enough of her husband beating up on her. Everywhere she turns for help, there's not much anyone will do. After he rapes her one night, she sets the bed on fire with him in it asleep.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSusan SarandonGeena DavisHarvey KeitelTwo best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two women escape for the crimes they committed.
- DirectorJohn PattersonStarsVeronica HamelLee GrantRay BakerA successful career woman is raped by a prominent lawyer. However, when she takes the case to court, it results in a hung jury. When the DA's office declines to retry the case, the lawyer opts to sue the woman for malicious prosecution and slander leaving her feeling raped again.
- DirectorPeter LevinStarsMickey RourkeLinda HamiltonRip TornBased on the real-life Oregon criminal case which dramatizes the unique dispute in which Greta Rideout instigated the prosecution of her husband John, charging him with raping her.
- DirectorKaren ArthurStarsRichard CrennaMeredith BaxterPat HingleSeattle veteran cop Richard Beck becomes a sexual assault victim and must deal with the painful aftermath.
- DirectorHarry WinerStarsPeter StraussJudith LightJames GammonThis movie shows another side to spousal abuse that not too many people thought is possible--the husband being abused and the wife the abuser.
- DirectorRobert M. YoungStarsFarrah FawcettJames RussoAlfre WoodardA woman takes revenge on the man who invades her home and tries to rape her.
- DirectorRobert MarkowitzStarsNancy McKeonDale MidkiffGraham JarvisA victim of domestic violence winds up in an ongoing struggle to get the police to take her seriously, until the abuse escalates to the worst extreme.
- DirectorJonathan KaplanStarsKelly McGillisJodie FosterBernie CoulsonAfter a young woman suffers a brutal gang rape in a bar one night, a prosecutor assists in bringing the perpetrators to justice, including the ones who encouraged and cheered on the attack.
- DirectorLee TamahoriStarsRena OwenTemuera MorrisonMamaengaroa Kerr-BellA family descended from Maori warriors is bedeviled by a violent father and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts.
- DirectorAnjelica HustonStarsJennifer Jason LeighRon EldardGlenne HeadlyA mother and daughter find their lives adversely affected when a new man enters the picture. Will their family ever be what they expect?
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsJennifer LopezBilly CampbellTessa AllenAfter running away fails, a terrified woman empowers herself in order to battle her abusive husband.
- DirectorCharles CorrellStarsCheryl LaddJameson ParkerG.W. BaileyA wife with a young family finds life becoming unbearable with her successful but violent and abusive husband. After filing for divorce, she quickly learns that her husband, through fear of his personal life embarrassing his clients, has commissioned an assassin to murder her before going to court. Unfortunately for him, the hired assassin turns out to be an FBI agent. The FBI convinces her that she must "pretend" to have been murdered in order to prove her husband's involvement. Based upon a true story.
- DirectorMichael Caton-JonesStarsRobert De NiroLeonardo DiCaprioEllen BarkinThe story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.
- DirectorJames L. BrooksStarsJack NicholsonHelen HuntGreg KinnearA single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
- 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.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsNicolas CageAlison LohmanSam RockwellA phobic con artist and his protégé are on the verge of pulling off a lucrative swindle when the former's teenage daughter arrives unexpectedly.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsBilly CrystalMeg RyanCarrie FisherHarry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsJane FondaRobert De NiroSwoosie KurtzA struggling widow falls in love with an illiterate short-order cook whom she teaches to read and write in her kitchen each night.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsWilliam HurtKathleen TurnerGeena DavisAn emotionally distant writer of travel guides must carry on with his life after his son is killed and his marriage crumbles.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsRichard GereJulia RobertsJason AlexanderA man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsBarbra StreisandRobert RedfordBradford DillmanDuring post-WWII McCarthyism, a diametrically opposed couple come together only to find out that genuine friendship and physical attraction is not enough to overcome fundamental societal beliefs.
- DirectorNunnally JohnsonStarsJoanne WoodwardDavid WayneLee J. CobbA doctor treats a woman suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.
- StarsJoanne WoodwardSally FieldBrad DavisA young woman whose childhood was so harrowing to her that she developed sixteen different personalities is treated by a doctor.
- DirectorRanda HainesStarsTed DansonGlenn CloseOlivia ColeCounseling helps a family deal with the discovery that their daughter was sexually abused by a close relative.
- DirectorRichard DonnerDavid Mickey EvansStarsLorraine BraccoJohn HeardAdam BaldwinA father recounts a dark period of his childhood when he and his little brother lived in the suburbs.
- 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.
- DirectorMartin RittStarsBarbra StreisandRichard DreyfussMaureen StapletonA high-class call girl accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.
- 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.
- StarsCindy PickettJohn AshtonCorin NemecThe harrowing true account of Steven Stayner, who was kidnapped by a perverted pseudo-priest and his lackey during the 1970s. As he gets older, he realizes that he needs to try to make an escape and get back home.
- DirectorDonald WryeStarsMarlo ThomasMel HarrisEileen HeckartThis is based on a true story about two sisters who sue their father for incest and child abuse. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that the father severely abused all six children, and committed incest with all four of his daughters. The two sons received the worst of the physical abuse. The mother stood haplessly by and allowed her husband to control the family through his methods of "discipline". The movie includes graphic descriptions and scenes of the abuse which are disturbing.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsSean PennTim RobbinsKevin BaconThe tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobert De NiroKevin BaconBrad PittAfter a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.
- DirectorFrank PerryStarsFaye DunawayDiana ScarwidSteve ForrestThe abusive and traumatic adoptive upbringing of Christina Crawford at the hands of her mother, screen queen Joan Crawford, is depicted.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorTodd SolondzStarsJane AdamsJon LovitzPhilip Seymour HoffmanThe lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsCate BlanchettJudi DenchAndrew SimpsonA veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.
- DirectorRyan MurphyStarsJoseph CrossAnnette BeningBrian CoxA teenage boy comes of age in the 1970's, sent by his neurotic, pretentious mother to live with a jolly, vulgar psychiatrist and his eccentric extended family.
- DirectorJohn HerzfeldStarsJudith LightLukas HaasMichael BowenThe story of Ryan White, a 13-year-old haemophiliac who contracted AIDS from factor VIII, which was used to control this disorder.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDanny GloverWhoopi GoldbergOprah WinfreyA tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracySidney PoitierKatharine HepburnA couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsWesley SnipesAnnabella SciorraSpike LeeFriends and family of a married Black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsGene HackmanWillem DafoeFrances McDormandTwo F.B.I. Agents with wildly different styles arrive in Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of some civil rights activists.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsOssie DavisCharles S. DuttonAndre BraugherA disparate group of African-American men travel by bus to Washington, DC for the Million Man March.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsSidney PoitierRod SteigerWarren OatesA black Philadelphia police detective is mistakenly suspected of a local murder while passing through a racially hostile Mississippi town, and after being cleared is reluctantly asked by the police chief to investigate the case.
- DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.
- DirectorScott HicksStarsEthan HawkeMax von SydowYûki KudôA Japanese-American fisherman is accused of killing his neighbor at sea. In the 1950s, race figures into the trial. So does reporter Ishmael.
- DirectorNorman JewisonStarsDenzel WashingtonVicellous ShannonDeborah Kara UngerThe story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
- DirectorTony KayeStarsEdward NortonEdward FurlongBeverly D'AngeloLiving a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
- DirectorBoaz YakinStarsDenzel WashingtonWill PattonWood HarrisIn 1971 Virginia high school football was everything to the people of Alexandria. But when the school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white one, the very foundation of football's tradition was put to the test.
- DirectorRobert MandelStarsBrendan FraserMatt DamonChris O'DonnellIn 1959, a star quarterback from a working-class family is given an opportunity to attend an elite New England preparatory school, but he is conflicted about whether or not to tell his Evangelical classmates that he is Jewish.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsKirsten DunstJosh HartnettJames WoodsA group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents in suburban Detroit in the mid 1970s.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe 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.
- DirectorTodd LouisoStarsPhilip Seymour HoffmanAnnie MorganKathy BatesA depressed widower spends his time huffing gasoline fumes, buying toy planes and acting reckless in public while avoiding reading his wife's suicide note.
- DirectorMarisa SilverStarsAlan BoyceKeanu ReevesPamela GidleyA man who seemingly has it all together, being smart, talented, funny, and popular, is secretly overwhelmed by expectations of himself and those of his parents, and suffers what is assumed to be a horrible accident.
- DirectorVincent WardStarsRobin WilliamsCuba Gooding Jr.Annabella SciorraChris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her.
- DirectorHal AshbyStarsRuth GordonBud CortVivian PicklesYoung, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
- DirectorBill ForsythStarsChristine LahtiSara WalkerAndrea BurchillAfter their mother commits suicide, two sisters end up living with their kind but peculiar aunt in their grandmother's old house in a small 1950s town.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.
- DirectorJoseph SargentRichard CarpenterStarsCynthia GibbMitchell AndersonPeter Michael GoetzStory of the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Karen Carpenter, who became a famous singer before battling anorexia and bulimia.
- DirectorArthur Allan SeidelmanStarsMeredith BaxterBen MastersGeorgann JohnsonA beautiful woman married to a successful lawyer and the perfect suburban mother turns out to be a closeted bulimic.
- DirectorHenry JaglomStarsFrances BergenLisa Blake RichardsNelly AlardA group of young and middle-aged women gather for the birthday party of a friend and talk about their lives and food they cook for their husbands, boyfriends, or themselves.
- DirectorPaul SchneiderStarsTracey GoldJill ClayburghCameron BancroftThe parents of an anorexic woman fight to save her life.
- DirectorLauren GreenfieldStarsShelly GuilloryBrittany RobinsonAlisa WilliamsThe story of four women suffering from anorexia and bulimia in South Florida.
- DirectorJan EglesonStarsCrystal BernardEsai MoralesCasey SanderA runner's bulimia and anorexia threaten both her dream of competing in the Olympics and her marriage to Denver's mayor.
- DirectorBruce BeresfordStarsDiane KeatonJessica LangeSissy SpacekThree southern sisters try to come to grips with the meaning of their mother's suicide.
- DirectorCharles ShyerStarsSteve MartinDiane KeatonMartin ShortWith his oldest daughter's wedding approaching, a father finds himself reluctant to let go.
- DirectorPhil Alden RobinsonStarsKevin CostnerJames Earl JonesRay LiottaIowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can't ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.
- DirectorLeonard NimoyStarsDiane KeatonLiam NeesonJason RobardsA divorced mother may lose custody of her young daughter to her ex-husband after he learns that the little girl crawled into bed with the mother and her boyfriend.
- DirectorLewis John CarlinoStarsRobert DuvallBlythe DannerMichael O'KeefeAs he approaches manhood, Ben Meechum struggles to win the approval of his demanding alpha male father, an aggressively competitive, but frustrated Marine pilot.
- DirectorDaniel MannGeorge CukorStarsShirley BoothAnthony QuinnShirley MacLaineA housewife is doing her best to keep her family together as it's slowly falling apart, a fact she's trying to ignore. Her cheating husband's birthday party is approaching and many lines will be crossed after that event.