| Photos (See all 41 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 3) |
| John Hawkes | ... | Mark | |
| Helen Hunt | ... | Cheryl | |
| William H. Macy | ... | Father Brendan | |
| Moon Bloodgood | ... | Vera | |
| Annika Marks | ... | Amanda | |
| Adam Arkin | ... | Josh | |
| Rhea Perlman | ... | Mikvah Lady | |
| W. Earl Brown | ... | Rod | |
| Robin Weigert | ... | Susan | |
| Blake Lindsley | ... | Dr. Laura White | |
| Ming Lo | ... | Clerk | |
| Rusty Schwimmer | ... | Joan | |
| Jennifer Kumiyama | ... | Carmen | |
| Tobias Forrest | ... | Greg | |
| Jarrod Bailey | ... | Tony | |
| James Martinez | ... | Matt | |
| Paul MacLean | ... | Young Mark | |
| Phoebe Lewin | ... | Girl on Beach | |
| Jonathan Hanrahan | ... | Unicyclist | |
| T.J. Edwards | ... | Waiter (as Jason Jack Edwards) | |
| J. Teddy Garces | ... | Man in Elevator | |
| Daniel Quinn | ... | E.R. Doctor | |
| B.J. Clinkscales | ... | Ambulance Driver | |
| Terry | ... | Cat | |
| Bill Hillman | ... | Himself - Reporter (archive footage) | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Gina-Raye Carter | ... | Pill Nurse (uncredited) | |
| Amanda Jane Fleming | ... | Margaret (uncredited) | |
| Stephane Nicoli | ... | Patient (uncredited) | |
| George F. Watson | ... | Amanda's Husband with Baby (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Ben Lewin | |||
Writing credits | ||
| Ben Lewin | (written for the screen by) | |
| Mark O'Brien | article "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate" | |
Produced by | |||
| Doug Blake | .... | executive producer (as Douglas Blake) | |
| Julius Colman | .... | executive producer | |
| Judi Levine | .... | producer | |
| Alexandra Lewin | .... | associate producer | |
| Ben Lewin | .... | producer | |
| Stephen Nemeth | .... | producer | |
| Abid Sayed | .... | associate producer | |
| Maurice Silman | .... | executive producer | |
| Darlene Winter | .... | associate producer | |
Original Music by | |||
| Marco Beltrami | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Geoffrey Simpson | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Lisa Bromwell | |||
Casting by | |||
| Ronnie Yeskel | |||
Production Design by | |||
| John Mott | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Sofia Jimenez | (as Sofia Elena Jimenez) | ||
Costume Design by | |||
| Justine Seymour | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Stephenie Irish | .... | assistant hair stylist | |
| Stephenie Irish | .... | assistant makeup artist | |
| Dmitriy Kirillov | .... | assistant hair stylist (as Dimitry Kirillov) | |
| Dmitriy Kirillov | .... | assistant makeup artist (as Dimitry Kirillov) | |
| Elissa Prager | .... | assistant hair stylist | |
| Elissa Prager | .... | assistant makeup artist | |
| Darrell Redleaf-Fielder | .... | hair stylist: Ms. Hunt (as Darrell Fielder) | |
| Darrell Redleaf-Fielder | .... | makeup artist: Ms. Hunt (as Darrell Fielder) | |
| Natalie Wood | .... | lead hair stylist | |
| Natalie Wood | .... | lead makeup artist | |
| Coco Yuon | .... | assistant hair stylist | |
| Coco Yuon | .... | assistant makeup artist | |
Production Management | |||
| Doug Blake | .... | unit production manager (as Douglas Blake) | |
| John Portnoy | .... | post-production supervisor | |
| Rebekah Sindoris | .... | production supervisor | |
Art Department | |||
| Stephen Andrews | .... | construction | |
| Giles Augustine | .... | swing gang | |
| Bianca Noel Baratie | .... | prop assistant (as Bianca Bareti) | |
| Christina Brenton | .... | property master | |
| Benjamin Brugger | .... | swing gang | |
| Eric Cantley | .... | swing gang | |
| Jason Cronburg | .... | carpenter | |
| Jose Luis Cruz | .... | swing gang | |
| Miriam Dafford | .... | set dresser | |
| Garrett Flamig | .... | swing gang | |
| Edwin Hernandez | .... | lead man | |
| Erin McKenna | .... | scenic painter | |
| Ben Monstrey | .... | prop assistant | |
| Niles Padilla | .... | lead man | |
| Nathan Owen Rothenstein | .... | set dresser | |
| Jeramey Rund | .... | set dresser (as Jeremy Rund) | |
| Joe Skiff | .... | construction | |
| Lisa Matsuura Walker | .... | scenic painter (as Lisa Walker) | |
| Max Webb | .... | set dresser | |
Sound Department | |||
| Joshua Adeniji | .... | sound effects editor | |
| Scott Brewster | .... | adr mixer | |
| Matt Culbreath | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Robert Dehn | .... | sound studio manager | |
| Derek Deitz | .... | foley mixer | |
| Trevor Gates | .... | sound effects editor | |
| Jason Gaya | .... | adr mixer (as Jason 8Frenchie' Gaya) | |
| Ginger Geary | .... | foley artist | |
| Angela Hemingway | .... | adr editor | |
| Angela Hemingway | .... | dialogue editor | |
| Steven Iba | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Brad Kalpakov | .... | boom operator | |
| Marty Kasparian | .... | sound mixer | |
| Ashley McEntee | .... | adr facility coordinator | |
| Spencer Schwieterman | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Chris Terhune | .... | adr mixer | |
| Kelly Vockel | .... | adr assistant | |
| Jonathan Wales | .... | sound mixer | |
Animation Department | |||
| Robert Vega | .... | animator: title | |
Casting Department | |||
| Virginia Siegler | .... | casting assistant | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Ximena Davalos | .... | set costumer | |
| Michele Marin | .... | set costumer | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Angel Askins | .... | digital intermediate producer: Company 3 | |
| Eric R. Brodeur | .... | assistant editor (as Eric Brodeur) | |
| Mike Chiado | .... | digital intermediate technologist | |
| Jaime Corbacho | .... | post-production assistant | |
| Siggy Ferstl | .... | digital intermediate colorist | |
| Travis Flynn | .... | additional digital intermediate colorist | |
| Dan Goslee | .... | digital conform editor | |
| Chloé Hamilton | .... | post-production assistant | |
| Jackie Lee | .... | digital intermediate account executive: Company 3 | |
| Cassandra Leigh | .... | post-production assistant | |
| Alexandra Lewin | .... | post-production coordinator | |
| Nick Monton | .... | senior digital intermediate producer: Company 3 | |
| Stefan Sonnenfeld | .... | digital intermediate executive producer: Company 3 | |
| Devin Sterling | .... | digital intermediate head of production: Company 3 | |
| Arabella Stubbs | .... | post-production assistant | |
| T.J. Young | .... | assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| John Kurlander | .... | score recording engineer | |
| Tyson Lozensky | .... | assistant scoring engineer | |
| Buck Sanders | .... | score co-producer | |
| Sharon Smith | .... | music editor | |
| Sharon Smith | .... | music supervisor | |
| Udi Harpaz | .... | composer: additional music (uncredited) | |
Transportation Department | |||
| Domingo Bustamante | .... | driver | |
| Jonathan Hanrahan | .... | transportation coordinator (as Jonathan 'Johnny 5' Hanrahan) | |
| Chris Pedersen | .... | driver: water truck | |
| Andrew Tiasacan | .... | transportation captain (as Drew Tiasacan) | |
| Helena Torgersen | .... | picture car coordinator | |
Thanks | |||
| Xavier Collin | .... | thanks | |
| Henry Eshelman | .... | special thanks | |
| Rex Glensy | .... | special thanks (as Rex Glensey) | |
| Fazal Khan | .... | special thanks | |
| Lincoln Nemeth | .... | special thanks | |
| Valerie Ann Nemeth | .... | special thanks | |
| Mark O'Brien | .... | in memory of | |
| Karl Spoerri | .... | thanks | |
| Viviana Vezzani | .... | thanks | |
| John Wesley Whitton | .... | special thanks | |
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| Heavenly Creatures | Lolita | Tea and Sympathy | My Own Private Idaho | Love in the Time of Cholera |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
The Sessions tells the inspirational true story of Mark O'Brien (John Hawkes), a poet/journalist who has an iron lung and is paralyzed from the neck down due to polio. At age 36 he decides to finally lose his virginity and with the support of his friend/priest (William H. Macy) hires a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt).
John Hawkes (Winter's Bone, Martha Marcy May Marlene) has been gathering accolades for his performance in The Sessions and with good reason. He not only delivers on the physical demands of such a role but he manages to encapsulate the emotions of a man with a broken body but a good heart. It's an impressive performance that should see him at least receive an Oscar nomination come next years awards. Hawkes is almost matched by Helen Hunt. She bares all in a brave role that depicts a woman struggling with her job and her emotions. These two performances are some of the best (so far) this year. William H. Macy also gives a good performance as a likable priest that O'Brien is able to confide in.
As a whole, the film doesn't shy away from much. The sex "therapy" sessions are depicted as realistically as possible and are both funny and touching (no pun intended). Ben Lewin's direction is simple yet it manages to adequately depict O'Brien's world without sensationalizing it. It's an all round simple tale that is well told. This is an adult drama that will make you laugh, cry and look more positively at your own life. There aren't many films that do that these day