The 21 best films about schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is one of the hardest mental illnesses to cope with, but that does not mean that you can not connect with the people who present it.
Although the break with reality seems somewhat difficult to explain, cinematic language has many ways of expressing the way in which these people see things .
- Recommended article: "The 6 types of schizophrenia and characteristics"
Movies about schizophrenia to understand the disease
This selection of films about schizophrenia is one more way of understanding what this condition consists of and the social and emotional implications it usually entails.
1. Take Shelter (2011)
A psychological drama in which you can observe how the rupture between a man and reality is evolving where he lives Little by little, the protagonist of the film is yielding to the impulses to believe in a series of apocalyptic hallucinations that lead him to build a shelter underground.
2. Donnie Darko (2001)
Indie movie starring actor Jake Gyllenhaal. In her, a young man named Donnie has visions in which he sees a person disguised as a giant rabbit of sinister aspect. This entity tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes and 12 seconds. The premiere of this work went almost unnoticed, but with the arrival of its DVD version it was transformed into a cult movie.
3. Lilith (1964)
A psychiatrist working in a health center reserved for the upper classes meets Lilith, a young woman with schizophrenia , And he fell in love with her. Through this relationship and his desire to weave a romantic relationship with the patient, the doctor is giving up living in the world of what he understood to be "the sane". This movie is based on a novel by J.R. Salamanca.
4. A wonderful mind (2001)
A film about schizophrenia based on a real case . He talks about the life of John Forbes Nash, a mathematician with paranoid schizophrenia who won a Nobel Prize in 1994. Throughout his 131 minutes, a wonderful mind shows the evolution of Nash's disease and also the way in which he reconciles it with his passions.
5. Spider (2002)
Directed by David Cronenberg, this film talks about a man who, after spending a season in the psychiatric hospital, stops taking his medication and relive experiences related to a traumatic childhood marked by the death of his mother and his relationship with his father.
6. Canvas (2006)
A story that puts a South Florida family in the center of focus and how they coexist with the mother's disease. One of the most moving films about schizophrenia .
7. Angel Baby (1995)
Australian film relatively little known about two people with schizophrenia who are known in a group therapy . After falling in love and moving to live together, they deal with a series of difficulties related to their mental health and the entry into the scene of a pregnancy.
8. I never promised you a rose garden (1977)
This film about schizophrenia takes place in a psychiatric hospital in which a woman is admitted to confuse reality and fiction repeatedly. In this scenario, the protagonist comes into contact with a psychiatrist who offers the possibility of maintaining a point of connection with the real world.
9. The Fisher King (1991)
Directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, this work narrates the case of a radio announcer who comes in contact with a beggar with signs of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Together they undertake the search for the Holy Grail.
10. Black Swan (2010)
One of the most famous films by director Darren Aronofsky, talks about the case of a dancer (played by Natalie Portman) who undertakes the search for artistic perfection , although the road reveals signs that each time breaks more with the perception of reality.
11. The soloist (2009)
In line with other films about schizophrenia based on real cases , The soloist tells the story of Nathaniel Ayers, a talented cellist who during his training at the conservatory developed mental illness and ended up living in begging. However, the situation changes when a journalist knows him and is impressed by his abilities.
12. Benny & Joon, the love of the innocents (1993)
Joon is a young woman who, after the death of her parents, begins to experience hallucinations and delusions , a set of symptoms typical of schizophrenia. Her brother dedicates all his efforts to take care of her, although the arrival of Sam, a young man starring Johnny Depp, will make the problems intensify, on the one hand, and a love relationship will arise, on the other.
13. Angels without heaven (1993)
In this play it shows friendship between a young man with schizophrenia and a veteran of the Vietnam War that match in a hostel for the homeless. The friendship that is born between them reveals the way in which they can connect that, in spite of having different pasts, they can get to see each other reflected.
14. Some Voices (2000)
This romantic drama He talks about Ray, he's a young man who, after having stayed in a psychiatric center, goes on to live with his brother Pete . Both help each other but when Ray falls in love with a woman the relationship begins to wobble
15. K-Pax (2001)
One of the best-known films about schizophrenia , K-Pax talks about the life of a man who calls himself Prot and who knows virtually nothing beyond what he says is coming from a distant planet and who has planned to go back at some point in the future. Prot is admitted to a psychiatric center for his delusional beliefs, and there he revolutionizes the lives of the rest of patients.
16. I am a cyborg (2006)
One of the best-known South Korean films in the West . It is about the life of two young people in a psychiatric center who establish a curious connection. Young-goon believes that he is a cyborg and that he can only feed on batteries, so he refuses to eat. Il-soon, a young man who always hides behind a mask, will have to understand the logic that follows the young woman's thought in order to help her.
17. Veronika decides to die (2009)
This fiction tells the life of a young woman who, after deciding that she wants to die and try to commit suicide , is informed that he has little time left to live because of the overdose of drugs I use. While staying in hospital, she meets a patient with schizophrenia that makes her see things differently.
18. Death of an angel (2001)
Samuel L. Jackson plays a man with schizophrenia trying to find the killer of a young man deciphering all the clues you can find. This work leaves aside the more intimate side that characterizes other films about schizophrenia to emphasize the importance of the mystery plot.
19. Nise (2015)
A Brazilian film about the most recent paradigms of psychiatry, based on a humane treatment for patients with the most serious mental disorders . Dr. Nise da Silveira tries to make inmates with schizophrenia in her medical center seen as people, something that helps her to win the enmities of her colleagues.
20. Intèle's intimate diary (1975)
This film is about the life of Adèle Hugo, the daughter of Victor Hugo, and her physical and mental problems related to her obsessive way of experiencing unrequited love.
21. Woh Lamhe (2006)
A romantic drama in which schizophrenia plays an important role. This Hindu movie released in the year 2006 collects a different way of seeing mental illness .
