Two Amazing Movies That Actually Understand Mental Illness

In this world, culture is greatly influenced by films and television which are essentially the only way

to make people aware about something. For people who deal with mental health issues on the daily,
however, that is often less ideal and can be outright dangerous. People often view the mentally ill as

murderous, delusional villains in horror movies, shows and other media. The movies we have
discussed here, discuss mental health as a serious illness and portray a realistic image of what it is

like to be suffering from the same.
GIRL INTERRUPTED

It is a classic and dramatic film directed by James Mangold and Jonathan Kohn. This movie has two
main characters. One of them is Susanna (Ryder) who always attempts mixing alcohol with pills to
kill herself because she is suffering from borderline personality disorder. The other character is Lisa

(Jolie) who is a chronic resident at a hospital and has escaped many times. She always chooses to
avoid getting help for her condition, and in turn becomes responsible for her own flaws. Lisa is a
good but frightened person who is just lost in her illness. The movie is full of intense relationships

and complexities. The representation of how mental illnesses were handled is quite intense as well
as immensely discomforting in the movie.
THE MACHINIST (2004)

It’s a psychological thriller directed by Brad Anderson. In this movie, a man named Trevor suffers

from Insomnia. He is at the extreme stage of insomnia. This mental disease causes a number of
problems for him. He begins to hallucinate a man at his machinist job and is distracted by these
hallucinations. When a co-worker gets trapped in a machine and loses his arms, it is Trevor who is
blamed for this accident. His body is seen withering away to almost nothing and it’s as if he’s fading

into thin air. The method acting here is extremely outstanding. Christian Bale’s transformation for
the role has received a lot of recognition.
These two films help you to understand a lot about signs and symptoms of mental illness. We realise
that it is extremely important to pay attention to sudden changes in thoughts and behaviour.