There are films about psychology that are nice to while away an hour or two after a tiring day at work. And there are paintings that literally blow your mind.
There are a huge number of lists of the best psychological films, which include films about male psychology, female psychology, films about mental disorders.
But only some of them really show the depths of the human soul.
What separates a great psychological film from just a good one? Firstly, the directing. A talented director will force you to follow the plot and psychological intricacies literally from the first frame.
Secondly – reliability. A psychological film is good when you feel every minute: the creators of the film know what they are talking about.
Deep down, every viewer is a psychologist; we literally absorb the ability to recognize the motives and emotions of other people with our mother’s milk.
The audience always feels false if, for example, a picture called a “psychological film” turns out to be an action thriller. A truly good film about psychology is first and foremost true on the deepest level.
Phase of Growth analyzed hundreds of films and compiled its own list of psychological films - the top 15 most striking, sometimes shocking films.
The list includes not only feature films, but also documentaries about psychology. Sometimes high-quality popular science cinema blows your mind no less than a deep melodrama or horror film.
The Roads Not Taken (2020)
Molly takes a day off from work to see her dementia-suffering father, Leo, to the doctors. While she demands that doctors not speak in front of the patient as if he is not in the room, Leo does not respond to her concern. At this time, he wanders through the nooks and crannies of memory and imagination, living three lives in parallel, each of which could have become a reality if he had taken one path and not another at one time. The new movie of 2022 with a great cast is a complex psychological film that is watched in one go.
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Trailer
Original title : The Roads Not Taken Genre : Drama Actors : Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Branka Katic, Salma Hayek... Country : UK, Sweden, USA, Poland, Spain Rating : Kinopoisk – 5.5, IMDb – 5.1 Age restrictions : 18+
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Planet Ka-Pax (K-PAX)
- Country: Germany, USA
- Director: Iain Softley
- Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges
The film tells the story of a mysterious man who finds himself at a busy train station, looking completely unremarkable. What makes him stand out from the general mass of people is his sunglasses, which don’t look good on him, and his mysterious smile.
Once in a psychiatric clinic, he declares with all confidence that he arrived on Earth from a planet called Ka-Pax (K-PAX). As a psychiatrist played by Jeff Bridges tries to figure out how to help a patient, he gradually begins to notice that all the patient's stories about aliens are beginning to have a striking effect on the mental health of other patients at the clinic.
Ema: Dance of Passion (2019)
The successful creative and family tandem of dancer Ema and choreographer Gaston is overshadowed by the inability to have children. The adopted child was found to have serious mental disabilities and the new parents returned the boy to the orphanage. Blaming each other for failing to cope with parenthood, the spouses separate and find salvation in dance, only now each in his own way. However, Ema has not given up the hope of becoming a mother and uses very unusual methods to achieve her goal.
Selection on the topic: 26 new films about dancing
Trailer
Original title : Ema Genre : Drama, melodrama, music Actors : Mariana Di Girolamo, Gael Garcia Bernal, Santiago Cabrera... Country : Chile Rating : Kinopoisk – 6.2, IMDb – 6.8 Age restrictions : 18+
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The Machinist
- Country: Spain, France, UK, USA
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Starring: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Trevor Resnik works at the plant. He has been unable to sleep for about a year and has difficulty eating, looking like a skeleton. He begins to hallucinate, causing Trevor to blur the line between reality and fiction. Strange frightening visions turn him into paranoid. What happened to him, and why was his psyche so shaken? You will have to look for the answer in the picture, especially if you wait for an extremely unexpected ending.
Tully (2018)
A powerfully impressive psychological film about a meeting that changes life and worldview. Forty-year-old Marlo Moreau has two young children, one of whom is autistic, and she is expecting an unplanned third. She has a big house and a loving husband, plus chronic fatigue and depression. On the advice of her brother, the woman hires a night nanny so that she can at least get enough sleep. The appearance of the young and slender Tully at first irritates the overweight Marlo, but soon the energetic and positive girl becomes indispensable for the whole family.
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Trailer
Original title : Tully Genre : Drama, Comedy, Detective Actors : Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston... Country : USA, Canada Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.0, IMDb – 7.0 Age restrictions : 18+
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To the Bone, USA, 2022
How to treat anorexia, why do serious eating disorders occur? Psychologists still do not have a clear answer.
The psychotherapist in the film resorts to a variety of methods to save his client, an anorexic young girl, from certain death.
Despite the rather dry reviews from critics, this film became one of the most poignant films about psychology in the history of modern cinema.
Why is it worth watching?
The term “toxic parents” has become popular lately.
This film clearly demonstrates what this really means: the poisoned emotional atmosphere in the heroine’s family leads to the fact that the girl cannot even eat food.
The scene with the symbolic “mother’s milk” was especially powerful. Fearing for her life, the girl agrees to be fed by her mother like a baby.
Out of My Mind (2018)
The cool thriller, which made it into the top psychological films, is notable for the fact that it was shot on an iPhone 7 Plus in ten days. Bank employee Sawyer Valentini is forced to move to another city because a stranger is following her everywhere. Moving doesn't help; the stalker continues to pester the girl. She decides to visit a psychotherapist, who convinces her to spend the night in a clinic under supervision. Against her will, Sawyer becomes a permanent patient, but the man from her nightmares appears here too, forcing the girl to wonder if she is not herself.
Psychological thrillers - 25 best films
Trailer
Original title : Unsane Genre : Thriller, detective Actors : Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharo... Country : USA Rating : Kinopoisk – 6.5, IMDb – 6.4 Age restrictions : 18+
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My Boyfriend Is Crazy (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Country: USA
- Director: David O. Russell
- Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
In the original, the title of the film can be translated as “Collection of rays of hope.” The plot of the film tells the story of a guy named Pat Solatano, who loses his job and his wife and spends some time in a mental hospital. After everything that happened, he begins to live with his parents.
He behaves very strangely, often walking around in a garbage bag, waking up his parents to complain about life. He wants to rebuild his life and reunite with his wife, whom he is forbidden to approach. Things get complicated when Pat meets Tiffany, who offers him a helping hand in trying to win back his wife. In return, he must do something very important for her. The girl will have a very strong influence on this.
Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
An Oscar-nominated psychological drama with elements of comedy about a war declared by a simple resident of a provincial town against the local police. The young daughter of Mildred Hayes was brutally murdered on her way from home to nearby Ebbing, and for seven months the investigation has not budged. With the money raised from the sale of her ex-husband's car, Mildred rents three billboards, accusing the police of inaction on them. Neither Sheriff Willoughby nor his sadistic assistant Dixon can make the citizen calm down.
25 foreign films about the investigation of mysterious murders
Trailer
Original title : Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Genre : Drama, crime Actors : Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson... Country : UK, USA Rating : Kinopoisk – 8.2, IMDb – 8.2 Age restrictions : 18+
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, USA, 1975
Milos Forman's psychological drama needs no introduction. This film became the second in the history of world cinema to receive five Oscars, five Golden Globes and a very large list of awards.
For what? For incredible direction and unprecedented depth of psychologism.
Why is it worth watching?
Anyone who is concerned about the topic of confrontation between man and the system, the conflict between the individual and society, must see this picture.
Jack Nicholson's hero has become a symbol of unbroken human will and personality with a capital P.
Arrhythmia (2017)
Psychological dramas in cinema are not easy to watch, so many of the interesting films on the best list are at the intersection of genres, like this dramedy, which has earned excellent reviews from audiences. Oleg Mironov is an emergency doctor who saves patients day and night, forgetting about sleep and rest, and then relieving stress with alcohol. At home, the cool doctor turns into a drunken slob, which annoys his wife Katya and she files for divorce. The new station chief does not share Oleg’s views on their difficult work. Will Mironov be able to improve his life?
25 new Russian films worth watching
Trailer
Genre : Melodrama, drama Actors : Alexander Yatsenko, Irina Gorbacheva, Nikolai Schreiber... Country : Russia Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.7, IMDb – 7.4 Age restrictions : 18+
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Psychologists, Russia, 2022
The comedy series “Psychologists” made a splash in the Russian-speaking psychological community. Why? The work of three psychologist friends is shown here with absolutely no touch of sacredness.
Psychologists criticized the series for unreliability and primitivism. However, viewers fell in love with it for its realism and vitality.
Each episode reveals the essence of some psychological concept. At the same time, the movie is extremely light, cheerful and life-affirming.
Why is it worth watching?
The series “Psychologists” was included in the list of films that explode the consciousness, for breaking stereotypes about psychologists.
In the minds of the audience, the psychologist is often a magical elf who has no internal conflicts, is not subject to human weaknesses, and never makes mistakes.
In the series “Psychologists” everything is exactly the opposite.
Professor Marston and His Wonder Women (2017)
One of the best psychological films that every comic book fan should watch. Harvard psychology professor William Marston was an extraordinary person - he invented the lie detector and created the theory of feminism. He lived openly with his legal wife, fellow researcher Elizabeth, and his student Olive, despite the condemnation of the American Puritans of the 1940s. Marston immortalized the traits of his beloved women in the image of Wonder Woman, the Amazon Diana Prince in popular comics, which he considered an important element of psychoanalysis.
Trailer
Original title : Professor Marston and the Wonder Women Genre : Drama, biography Actors : Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote... Country : USA Rating : Kinopoisk – 7.1, IMDb – 7.1 Age restrictions : 18+
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Series
Do you like psychological series? The list of the best includes completely unexpected films that you might not have guessed about. And yet, elements of psychology are there at every step.
Necessary Cruelty (2011)
At the center of the events is psychotherapist Dani Satino, who lives on Long Island. One day, her personal life collapses as it turns out that her husband has been lying all along. In order not to fall into depression, the girl immerses herself in work. Thanks to this, all celebrities go to see her. Each of her patients is a person known to everyone. Each of them sincerely believes that only Dani can cure them of their problems. Work greatly interferes with the family, since she is left alone with two teenage children.
Treatment (Patients) (2008)
Paul Weston works as a therapist. He does a good job and his patients idolize him. In life, on the contrary, he is a bore with established rules. To improve his life, Paul is forced to become a patient himself. He has several patients with whom he talks and treats. But no one suspects that on Fridays he visits his own doctor, Gina.
Gravity (2010)
There are several people at the center of events. One day, each of them decides to commit suicide, but for some reason they stop. Now they have been given a second chance to somehow improve the situation. They organize courses. At them, everyone speaks out about their problems and they all try to help solve them.
Web Therapy (2011)
At the center of events is a psychotherapist. His job is to give instructions to patients, and his session lasts only three minutes. Meetings take place on Skype. He sincerely believes that it is better to listen to a person for three minutes, rather than sit for hours and sort out the situation. For communication, a smiling emoticon is attached to the face of the doctor and the patient.
Criminal Minds (2005)
At the center of events is the FBI department, which carries out special assignments. Department Chief James Gideon, along with his people, regularly helps police officers solve complex cases. The employees’ task is to quickly study the details of the crime and find out who the criminal really is, as well as understand whether he will continue to commit crimes.
Tell Me You Love Me (2007)
The story centers on three pairs of people who are at different stages of their relationship. Quite often they have to face certain difficulties. Jamie and Hugo will soon get married, but their trusting relationship is faltering. Carolyn and Palek really want a baby. Katie and David can't even indulge in carnal pleasures because they simply don't have enough time. Now only May Foster can help the lovers, because it’s not in vain that they all turned to her for help.
Anger Management (2012)
Charlie previously dreamed of becoming a baseball player. At first he was in the minor league, but due to uncontrollable anger he lost the opportunity to get into the major league. He underwent a long course of treatment and was still able to fight his way to the top with his team. The happiness was short-lived as he suffered a serious injury and could no longer play. Now he is forced to work as a regular therapist.
Consciousness (2009)
An unusual doctor practices extraordinary methods of treatment. He makes sure that the patient is in the conscious stage and is looking for opportunities for his speedy recovery. The doctor's colleagues are truly horrified by what he does to his patients. But they believe that it is his unusual method that can change a lot in medicine.
Awakening (2012)
Michael Brittain works as a detective. One day he gets into a car accident and remains unconscious for a long time. When he comes to his senses, he is informed that his son survived, but unfortunately his wife could not be saved. The next day, Michael woke up and realized that he was now living in two different realities and he would have to change all the events so that ultimately both would remain alive in the same reality.
Perception (2012)
Daniel Pearce is a gifted neuroscientist. One day he is called to work for the FBI to help employees solve complex cases. Newcomer Kate Moretti, who recently graduated from university, is provided to help him. In addition, he has a right-hand man, Max Levisky, and his best friend, Natalie Vincent.
Lie Theory (Lie to Me) (2009)
Kel Lightman is an unusual person. It is impossible to deceive him and in three minutes he can very easily recognize whether a person is lying or telling the truth. He spent more than half his life studying the theory of lies. Currently, police and FBI officers regularly turn to him to help identify a criminal. But Kel does not like his gift at all, because he cannot tolerate lies and when his loved ones deceive him, he becomes angry.
The Mentalist (2008)
Patrick Jane works for CBD California as an independent consultant. Over many years of work, he learned to cope with his responsibilities perfectly and even developed a certain scheme. Previously, he tried to become a medium and deceived people that he had paranormal powers. But despite this, Jane manages to solve even the most complex crimes.
Black Mirror (2011)
Over the past ten years, many different technologies have been invented that have changed our lives. Now no one can live without the World Wide Web, smartphone, or computer. But is technology addiction a good thing? What if they reveal the creepiest aspects of our personality?
Dexter (2006)
Dexter works in law enforcement. Once upon a time, it was his father who placed him here because he saw bloody inclinations in his son. Now he is a criminologist and catches dangerous criminals. As it turns out, Dexter is actually a killer who derives the undeniable joy of killing. To avoid getting caught, he carefully follows the plan that his father developed when he was still at a young age.
Billions (2016)
The big city of New York is at the center of the action. This is where the biggest money is made. Every day, rich people enter into a fight to prove that he is the richest and deserves more than his rival. So the king of hedge funds, Bobby Axerold, begins to wage an unequal battle with prosecutor Chuck Rhodes. Which man will be able to emerge victorious from this difficult war?
These were the best psychological films. The TOP list of the best includes both real events, and with an unpredictable outcome, and with meaning. If you know other similar thrillers, heavy dramas, horror films or detective films that everyone should watch, be sure to write to us. Especially if these are TV series or new releases in 2017.
