21 Amazing Movies That Actually Understand Mental Illness

21 Amazing Movies That Actually Understand Mental Illness's icon

Created by 72aicm.

Favorited 4 times, disliked 0 times, added to 3 watchlists.

Screenrant.com:

Visibility in films is important. In a world where culture is greatly influenced by films and television, it is great to find validation of who you are and where you come from in films.

For people who deal with mental illness on a daily basis, however, that visibility is often less than ideal and can be outright dangerous. Mentally ill people are often portrayed as murderous, delusional villains in horror movies, or are grossly misrepresented in films, shows, and other media.

For this list of films that depict mental illness, we tried to find films that were engaging, at least somewhat realistic in their approach to presenting the experience of mental illness, and did not demonize or negatively portray (without reason) those who have mental illnesses.

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  1. 8 -

    A Streetcar Named Desire

    1951, in 15 top lists Check
  2. 1 -

    The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon...

    1972, in 1 top list Check
  3. 5 -

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    1975, in 35 top lists Check
  4. 12 -

    Jacob's Ladder

    1990, in 3 top lists Check
  5. 11 -

    The Fisher King

    1991, in 4 top lists Check
  6. 13 -

    Benny & Joon

    1993, in 0 top lists Check
  7. 10 -

    What's Eating Gilbert Grape

    1993, in 1 top list Check
  8. 3 -

    Fight Club

    1999, in 19 top lists Check
  9. 21 -

    Girl, Interrupted

    1999, in 0 top lists Check
  10. 4 -

    Memento

    2000, in 27 top lists Check
  11. 15 -

    A Beautiful Mind

    2001, in 12 top lists Check
  12. 16 -

    The Machinist

    2004, in 1 top list Check
  13. 7 -

    Little Miss Sunshine

    2006, in 7 top lists Check
  14. 19 -

    Ssa-i-bo-geu-ji-man-gwen-chan-a

    2006 — a.k.a. I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, in 2 top lists Check
  15. 14 -

    Lars and the Real Girl

    2007, in 1 top list Check
  16. 2 -

    Synecdoche, New York

    2008, in 9 top lists Check
  17. 17 -

    Black Swan

    2010, in 12 top lists Check
  18. 9 -

    Shutter Island

    2010, in 8 top lists Check
  19. 18 -

    Melancholia

    2011, in 10 top lists Check
  20. 6 -

    Silver Linings Playbook

    2012, in 7 top lists Check
  21. 20 -

    They Look Like People

    2015, in 0 top lists Check
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Last updated on Sep 9, 2019 by 72aicm; source