Mental health Movie Reviews

Mental health Movie Reviews

1. Movies dealing with mental illness and psychological disorders

“The Accountant”

The Accountant is a 2016 American crime thriller movie directed by Gavin O’Connor featuring an autistic protagonist character by name Christian Wolff (Chris). Chris is an autistic person utilizing his aspersers condition as a math savant working at a forensic accountant from a small strip mall office in Illinois. He works as a freelance accountant working for some of the most dangerous criminal cartels where he unmasks financial deception and often for criminal and terrorist enterprises. He is hired as a legitimate client in a state-of-the-art robotics company where he discovers a discrepancy involving millions of dollars.

As a child, Christian is diagnosed with a high functioning form of autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, at Harbor Neuroscience, where he meets Justine. He has a problem understanding people, he can’t pick up social clues, and he has a high affinity to his math task than he has to people. Christine also rocks unconformably, wears unsightly glasses, and shows every sign of Aspie patient. At the neuroscience center, the doctor and Chris father periodically disagree on how Chris should be raised and the level of stimuli to be exposed to

“Silver Linings”

Silver Linings is a 2012 romantic comedy-drama movie produced by Donna Galotti based on Mathew Quick’s novel with the same name. The film features Patrizio Solitano(Pat), which is a role played by Bradley Cooper and the main character with bipolar disorder. After losing his job and wife, and spending time in a mental institution, Pat Solution, wades up to go back to live with his parents in his childhood home in upper Darby in Pennsylvania. From a bipolar psycho, the movie tends to portray the stigma faced by people with such mental illness.

Pat had spent eight months of treatment in the Maryland mental care facility after having diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Pat institutionalization was due to him beating his ex-girlfriend Nikki after finding him cheating. Pat had been put into a series of medication s such as mandatory therapy sessions, which he had chronically refused as he doesn’t like how the pills make him feel. Dr. Patel, who is Pat’s therapist, tries his best to convince him to keep taking his medication, as a repeat of his violent outbursts might send him back to the clinic.

Pat is now determined is determined to reconstruct his life by reuniting with his wife Nikki and getting his job back as a substitute teacher. A legal constriction also exists, which prevents from him contracting her ex-lover. The proceedings get challenging when Pat encounters a new girl Tiffany. Tiffany had offered to help Pat reconnect with his wife if he does something crucial for her in exchange. Tiffany has other ulterior motives and wants to have more than a dance with him. Tiffany too has an unnamed disorder and the two try to connect over dinner talking by talking about various psychoactive drugs that have help them manage their mental illnesses. The two become close friends and help each other cope with their problems. Tiffany agrees to take a letter to Nikki, hoping they would re-connect. Meanwhile, Pat’s fathers have turned into illegal bookmaking and hope to start a restaurant.  He has virtually placed or his money into Philadelphia eagles game expecting to win. Tiffany also brings a response letter to Pat from Nikki, which she cautiously hints at a chance of reconciliation. Palazzo ultimately wins the bet eventually and opens a restaurant while Pat meets with Nikki, where there shares a kiss.

2. The target audience of the movies

Gender. Both films are directed to people of all genders, especially as everyone is prone to mental disorders. However, since both of the main characters being male, I fell they target more on males.

Age range. Both films depict scenes of nudity, crime, and other form violence are fit for adults aged 18 years and above. The episode of Pat severely beating his wife and that of a man they caught sleeping together in their home is not fit for viewing in children under 18 years.

Ethnicity. The movies are directed to people of all ethnicities. The two films show a wide range of ethnic diversities where most of the characters are of mixed ethnicities.

3. Movie role models

Every movie fanatic has that character who they admire as their role model. Whether it is Dwayne Jason from the fast and furious or Batman, who is my favorite superhero, every movie has its hero. From the Silver Lining movie, Psychiatrist and mental health students have Pat Santino as their role model for the excellent character role played. Pat, portrays every character of a polar syndrome. To the adolescents and other adults, Pat can be seen as a role model for perservialance and self-realization. He is able to convert from the ruthless maniac beast who tortures his wife and other people to a loving prince charming who will do anything to get re-connected to his wife. At the end of the movie, Pat realizes his dreams and able to re-connect back with his family and again fill the warmth of a family he long longed for. Pat is able to achieve his goals despite all the negativity and challenges going around, including cases of stereotyping from his mental condition.

From “The Accountant” movie, Chris can be seen as the superhero character and a role model for most of the adolescents who love Super Man and other Captain America Movies. Chris has not only mastered the world of accounting, but he is also a guru in the world of martial arts. He is an expert assassin and a shooter with an excellent shooting that everyone would admire. Chris is determined to save Dana, a colleague who works together and has been marked by a bunch of criminals.

4. 4. Analyzing Movie Characters

The paper analysis Pat’s and Chris’s character will be analyzed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). The grading system is a widely used and researched clinical assessment tool used by mental health practitioners to help diagnose mental health disorders under following subsets;

Hypochondriasis. It is a condition where the person is extremely and unduly worried about their illness. Pat is furious about his mental condition and has guilt for his character. Likewise, Chris is not okay with his autistic condition and would grade them 8 and 7, respectively.

Depression is dealing with severe despondency and dejection. In the beginning episodes of both films, both characters have passed filled with despair and a state of hopelessness in a score of 8/10.

Hysteria can be termed as uncontrolled and exaggerated emotions and excitement. Chris can’t be considered hysteric and score 1/10. He never exaggerates his excitement and barely cracks a smile. Pat can be considered hysteric, 8/10 as he uncontrollably burst in exaggerated emotions and laughter in various episodes.

Psychopathic Deviance suggests psychopathic behavior such as disregard for moral consideration and connection to other people. Chris shows no emotion, feelings, or empathy and does seem to care about other people.7/10. Pat regards the moral aspect, as shown in the scene where he protects Dr. Patel from racial discrimination.

Masculinity refers to the quality of manliness and attributing to the characteristic of men. Both the characters score high in this assessment 8/10 as they are scenes involve in a scene involving violence and fighting.

Psych asthenia, a psychological disorder categorized by phobias, compulsions, obsessions. Pat is able to control his obsessions and sexual desires. Tiffany, whose is Pat’s friendly freely offers him sex which he defiantly disapproves

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder affecting how a person feels, thinks, and feels.it is characterized by depression, social withdrawal., hostility, extreme reaction to criticism deterioration level of personal hygiene, among other symptoms. Chris has a schizophrenic symptom, which I rate 8/10. His fury witnessed when he finds mathematic work on the glass wall erased. He becomes a one-wreck machine gun. Pat is characterized by having special powers, go without sleep, having wild thoughts, talking nonstop, acting recklessly, and experiencing racing thoughts and irritability.

Hypomania is a mild form of mania marked by hyperactivity and mood elevation. Pat portrays episodes of manic behaviors, 8/10. Chris also shows hyperactivity when he is taken to neuroscience as a child.

“Big 5” Personality Factors

Emotional Stability or neuroticism is the tendency of experiencing negative emotions such as fury, stress, depression, and anxiety. Chris shows the ability to remorse and displays social emotions. After his father is killed in front of him, he devotes to defend and protect the underprivileged. Pat also count control his anger when he found her wife cheating

Extraversion is characterized by the excitability, talkativeness, and sociability of a person. Chris is a very social person, and I would rate him 2. He lives alone in his trailer house where he has solely fitted a large SUV in his small garage, and his drawer peculiarly contains only one fork, knife, and spoon, which are neatly placed, his proves he doesn’t like people visit his home. Pat is social, has a friend and a wife, Nikki.

Openness is being free and honest to talk about something and having a wide variety of interests to try new things. Pat is an open and honest guy. He has a deep connection with his wife and denies to have sex with other women. He openly opens his heart to Tiffany and tells her they can’t be in relation. Chris meets Dana, and he can’t keep away the feelings he has for her. She takes Dana to the swank hotel, and when they about to kiss, his fears make him chicken out.

Agreeableness. Reflect the individual general concern for social harmony. Pat is open and agreeable to ideas. In a scene in the movie, his father had asked Pat to attend the Philadelphia Eagles game as a good luck charm. Pat agrees and attends the game. Chris also has a similar character. He agrees to follow his father’s footsteps to learn about martial arts to defend himself against bullies.

Conscientiousness is a tendency to display self-discipline, being dutifully, and the urge to strive despite outside expectations. The Silver lining film portrays Pat as a homicidal maniac, and narcissistic parasite stereotypes inflicted to bipolar patients. Despite the challenges and stereotypes, Pat is sure he can still find a silver lining in his life. Chris is also optimistic and trying to make up for his life despite his autistic condition.

5. Id, Ego, or Superego personality development in the movies

According to the Feud theory, the id character is present at birth to bring out the primitive, instinctive characters of a person. The id gives the individual the psychic energy of molding the primary personalities’ component. Silver lining film portrays the mental id character Pat as sad, hopelessness, anxiety, and full of wrath, anger, vengeance, and full of suicidal or homicidal thoughts and behavior. The accountant movie displays the autistic Chris as a superpower hero. He has incredibly super-powered math abilities, which fits him into manly hyper competency. Chris also has heroic martial artistic powers. As a child, his father had him train with martial art specialist Jakarta so that he can protect himself from bullies,

The ego is the personality component of dealing with reality. Rendering to Freud, ego personality gets its roots from the id and purposes to ensure that the impulses of the id are expressed in a manner that will be acceptable to the real world. In the “Silver Lining” movie, Pat is first displayed to have extreme anger, animosity, and paranoia.  However, he feels the urge to change his ego due to the anxiety of getting back his wife and frustrations and guilt of how his life used to be. In The Accountant movie, Chris struggles to deal with the reality of his troubling past. However, he is able to overturn his autistic condition to turn a respected accountant savant.

The superego is the last aspect of personality and holds all of the persons internalized moral standards, ethics, and ideals that required in differentiating the sense of right and wrong. Superego provides guidelines to make judgments that we acquire from society and occurrences around us. Pat has a steady mood in the ability to control his emotional issues. He has minor setbacks, failures, and difficulties in controlling his upsets when he is dealing with people. Pat is able to realize that the clique bullying his therapist is not doing what is morally and so he steps in to do what is right and protects him from the bullies. As much as Chris may be a criminal in The Accountant movie, he has an artistic way of differentiating between doing good or bad. He vows to protect the weak and vulnerable people from exploitation and always has the helping hand. Chris donates most of his money to a neuroscience institute and craves to live by a moral code.

6. defense mechanism

The Silver Lining movie film Pat with a complete urge to regress back to his former state.  Flashback episode, pat finds a former teacher with his wife naked in the shower, and He furiously and ruthlessly beating the man having an affair with his woman. Pat is ready to rehabilitate his furious behavior to get back to his wife. Another mechanism shown by Pat was in the psychiatric institution, where he is given a pill, places it under his tongue to makes a deceitful look like he had taken the pill where he later spits out the pill. Pat believes the Pills are doing him better than harm. In the Accountant movie, Chris vows to redefine his life by submission. As a child, his father had him train with martial art specialist Jakarta so that he can protect himself from bullies. He vows to protect the weak and vulnerable people from exploitation and always has the helping hand. He also donates most of his money to a neuroscience institute and craves to live by a moral code. Chris utilizes his incredibly super-powered math abilities and his heroic martial artistic powers to redefine his life.

7. learning how to handle stressful situations

In the movie “Silver Lining,” Pat and Tiffany, who are both suffering from mental disorders, connect over dinner talking by talking about various psychoactive drugs that have to help them manage their mental illnesses. This shows a useful way of handling stress and a state of low mental competence by connecting with friends, especially from the same flock to discuss things of mutual interest. As an adolescent and being faced with the stressful condition. Tiffany also practices a dance lesson, which forms part of her therapies to control her wild mental disorder condition while Pat involves himself in jogging and taking running to relieve stress. In The Accountant movie, Chris is able to handle his anxiety and stressful condition through stimming or self-stimulation. He involves himself in puzzles and is periodically seen rolling a pin whenever he is in such a stressing mood.

8. Addressing societal issues

The Accountant movie is a crime drama movie depicting scenes of criminal violence. Chris is seen working for terrorist and criminal groups. His freelancing accounting business is a front to cook accounts for some of the world’s notorious criminal cartels. Chris is also an experienced assassin who regularly and brutally murders people. The movie also depicts an episode of bullying and neglect for parental care. Young Chris faces a series of various social problems, such as bullying from his colleagues. Chris also receives neglects from her mother when she abandoned him together with his younger brother Braxton for the pressure of raising an autistic child. Chris’s mother gets into disagreements with his husband concerning to raise Chris, projecting him into the wrath of domestic violence. The production of the movie also stereotypes autistic condition that all patients possess high intelligence quotient. The movie also portrays that savants are the only way through the autistic condition. Chris is portrayed as a brutal assassin and involved in violence, which is not always the case for all autistic patients.

The movie “Silver Lining “has episodes of domestic violence in the scenes where pat discovers his wife cheating with another man, and he starts beating his wife for adultery. The movie gives a lesson to any married couple to show the detrimental effects of cheating in marriages does in destroying marriages. From the beginning of the movie onwards, Pat is stereotyped as a psycho. The film portrayals the mentally ill stigmatization and stereotyping that is being affiliated to mental health patients such as Pat and Tiffany. The movie tends to create and underpin stereotyping mental illness patient Pat as “homicidal maniacs and parasitic person.” The theme of racism is also addressed when Pat and his brother Jake get involved in a fight when some racist allegations fight Pat and his brother finds a group of clique harassing and serotyping of Indian fans as they get into the Philadelphia stadium. Pat’s therapist, Dr. Patel, is among the Indian fan groups, and Pat could allow his therapist to be harassed. He allegedly involves the clique into a fight where they are ultimately hauled away by the police.

9. overall significance of movies

Movies play major roles in dealing with problems of mental illness and equally in physiological disorders.  A movie such as the Silver Lining and The Accountant displays to like the lives of people struggling with mental health illnesses and how the people react to such individuals.

Film screening can be used to raise public awareness about mental health. Mental Health Movie Monthly was a campaign launched by lectures from Robert Gordon University, aiming to improve understanding of mental health by the members of the public. (Macpherson, and Warrender, 2018). Professors can also utilize film screening to facilitate learning to the students where they can site various illustrations from common mental movies. As much as movie creates mental awareness, they can also display negative imaging and stereotypes about mental patients.

Therapists have utilized and appreciated the role films in improving mental wellness though movie therapies. Proponents of movie therapy prospects that movies can be used to change how patients think and how people view, think, and deal with mental illness patients. Movies help patients explore their psyches.