Psychologists explain stories
Expert psychological analysis of films, books, series, characters and the emotional conflicts behind memorable stories.
These are not simple recommendations. Psychologists look at trauma, attachment, family dynamics, motivation, manipulation, grief, identity and other psychological themes reflected in art. Spoilers are possible.
Gus Van Sant
"Some people can't believe in themselves until someone believes in them." Director: Gus Van Sant. Starring: Matt Damon (Will Hunting), Robin Williams…
Amy Redford
I felt like writing about this old 2008 film. I watched it a long time ago, and it left a deep impression on me. A girl named Melody is diagnosed wit…
Akihiko Matsuura
What do you need to buy your dream? Allow me to introduce myself—I’m Alexander, and this essay is dedicated to a mysterious work where a person encoun…
Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala
The experimental film by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Ich seh, ich seh (I See, I See, 2014), is a tragic horror about a family unable to cope wit…
Bong Joon-ho
Today, the weather outside turned into a real freezer. It’s extremely hard to do anything besides sleeping, eating, and watching movies. I was lucky—b…
Edward Berger
Another truthful series about child abuse and how the past shapes the rest of one’s life.Bravo to the screenwriters—throughout the first episode, we w…
Nick Antosca
The series The Act is probably the most terrifying thing I’ve watched since Leaving Neverland. It’s a grim textbook on the exploitation of a child’s d…
Todd Phillips
Joker. Three Layers of Tragedy I watched Joker, and I urgently need to express my thoughts. So here’s a review with reflections. First, you need to se…
Darren Aronofsky
I watched the movie "Mother". The reaction is very mixed. Definitely not a film for those who aren't ready to perceive it metaphorically—if you watch…
Thomas Vinterberg
It's amazing how one's own desire to change something, to refresh life, can influence the course of events and completely turn everything upside down.…
Jonas Poher Rasmussen
First of all, Kevin Spacey. You don’t even need to continue. But still. The film is about a psychotherapist for the rich and famous. And as it should…
Po Bronson, Ashley Meryman
The book that answers the question:"If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?"It helped me realize: your skills and talent may be of no use to anyone i…
Johan Renck
"We are now on dangerous ground. Because of our secrets and our lies. They practically define us. When the truth offends us, we lie, lie, until we can…
Jane Campion
The events take place in the mid-19th century. Ada McGrath, along with her daughter, moves from Scotland to New Guinea to marry Alisdair Stewart, a m…
Paris Barclay, Rodrigo García, Jim McKay
My analysis of the initial interview using the example of an episode from the film "Patients." Season 1, Episode 2. ALEX Alex entered confidently, n…
Pete Docter
The animated film illustrates how emotions shape our lives. Fear, anger, irritation, joy, sadness—what purpose do they serve? How do they function in…
Todd Solondz
A comparative analysis of the psychological role of the dachshund in four episodes of Todd Solondz’s German film Wiener Dog (2016), through the lens o…
Fred Cavayé
The protagonist's father is a spendthrift, and to avoid becoming like him, he has been saving every penny since childhood—even retrieving leftover too…
Nicolas Pesce
A film about pain. "Piercing" based on the novel by Ryu Murakami. (Dir. Nicolas Pesce). The film explores how the desire for physical pain can stem…
Thomas Vinterberg
Genre - psychological drama, so it keeps you in suspense and makes you reflect on your own judgments about other people. The film's events unfold in a…
Lee Unkrich, Adrian Molina
Coco is an adventure and family animated film with such depth that it will appeal to both children and adults. For children, it serves as a vivid exam…
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse’s utopian novel *The Glass Bead Game* can be read repeatedly—at different stages of personal development. Each time, readers can examine…
Pascal Laugier
If you skip the plot of the first part of the film and move straight to the second, it briefly looks like this: a group of people captures a girl and…
Rachel Abbott
Modern civilized society condemns domestic violence at the legislative and declarative levels. Yet, on an everyday level, attitudes toward victims oft…
Ruta Sepetys
A bestseller on the New York Times list and recipient of numerous literary awards, Ruta Sepetys’ novel Between Shades of Gray offers readers a chance…
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The beginning of the novel evokes our stereotypes about the 1920s in America. "Our" stereotypes are those of people who could not see the reality of t…
Fannie Flagg
«Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe» by American author Fannie Flagg begins in a very mundane way. The text is written in the simple langua…
François Ozon
An erotic psychological thriller that took the Cannes Film Festival and many viewers by storm with its subtle premise, where a woman traumatized for l…
Danny Strong
I’ll start my review with a personal life hack: when I see a film rated as average, mixed, or polarizing, it means I absolutely have to watch it. The…
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land is an attempt to examine people in a technologically advanced society from a meta-perspective. Written in…
Discussion
This section presents a list of psychological films, offering everyone who loves cinema and is interested in psychology the opportunity to join discussions about them in the comments. Unlike the reviews available on movie portals—which aim to provide a brief, spoiler-free description and pique interest in watching—the purpose of our overviews is different.
We recommend reading them after watching the films to help you understand the characters’ behavioral motives more deeply. This way, you might discover new facets of the work that are noticeable to professional psychologists.
