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1. A Clockwork Orange. 8.3 (883K) Rate. 77. In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned. 2. The Shining. 8.4 (1.1M) Rate. 68.
May 13, 2024 · From psychological thrillers to horror, the films that tackle madness transport audiences to the brink of sanity and back again. Depictions of insanity in cinema take many forms, but some movies about madness truly stand out as masterpieces that vividly evoke the complexities of mental unraveling.
- Bedlam (1946) | Mark Robson
- Don Juan Demarco (1994) | Jeremy Leven
- Even Dwarfs Started Small (1970) | Werner Herzog
- House of Fools (2002) | Andrei Konchalovsky
- Girl, Interrupted (1999) | James Mangold & Jonathan Kahn
- Unsane (2018) | Steven Soderbergh
- Dogra Magra (1988) | Toshio Matsumoto
- Brainstorm (2001) | Laís Bodanzky
- Session 9 (2001) | Brad Anderson
- I’m A Cyborg, But That’S OK (2006) | Park Chan-Wook
One of 18thcentury England’s greatest shame was the insane asylum, commonly referred to by Londoners as ‘Bedlam.’ Mark Robson’s horror thriller tracks the experiences of a spirited young girl, Nell’s (Anna Lee) efforts to expose the cruelty & reform ‘bedlam’. But, the sadistic Sims (Boris Karloff), running the asylum, commits the girl into the inst...
In Jeremy Leven’s oddball fantasy, Johnny Depp plays a delusional young man who is convinced that he is the world’s greatest lover, Don Juan. His magnetic eyes and steamy words make some women believe that, including the nurses at the psychiatric institution, he has been committed to (“Have you ever loved a woman until milk leaked from her?”asks Do...
Werner Herzog’s controversial picture is largely set inside the confines of an institution that’s situated in a small island town with a barren landscape. It doesn’t mention what kind of institution its inmates are rebelling against. Some interpret it as a penal institution, and some consider it a mental asylum. But that’s just one of the metaphori...
An anti-war allegory employing the inmates of an abandoned asylum is, of course, not a fresh cinematic subject. Philippe de Broca’s famous quirky comedy King of Richards (1966) is set in a deserted small town where the neglected inmates of a psychiatric institution take over the town. The scenario gets playful when a lone Scottish soldier is sent t...
American author Susanna Kaysen’s memoir relates her brief stay (during the 1960s) in a psychiatric hospital after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. In James Mangold’s movie adaptation, Winona Rydergives the powerful angst-ridden portrayal of Susanna, while Angelina Jolie plays the charming sociopath Lisa.
Steven Soderbergh’s taut iPhone-shot thriller, embellished with a yellowish color palette, perfectly brings out the dread of the central character stuck in a psychiatric institution. Claire Foy plays Sawyer Valentini, who moves and gets a new job to escape her stalker. But an unexpected turn of events leads Sawyer to be involuntarily committed to a...
Based on Yumeno Kyusaku’s famous novel, the movie version, directed by Toshio Matsumoto, deals with the experiences of a young insane man, Kure Ichiro, confined to an Eastern philosophy talking psychiatric doctors of a mental asylum. Like the young protagonist who killed his fiance on the day of marriage, we are also haunted by many unanswered ques...
Brazilian film-maker Lais Bodanzky’s painful docu-drama, similar to “Girl, Interrupted”, chronicles author Mr. Carrano’s stay in a hellish mental asylum for a detox program. Middle-class teenager Neto (Rodrigo Santaro—played as Xerxes in “300”) is a normal boy, but feels alienated from his family and hangs out with friends for music & drugs. The fa...
Brad Anderson’s horror/mystery is like his future work “The Machinist,” which is a peek into the dark side of human psychology. But, the majestic & rotting Danvers State Hospital plays a vital role in its protagonist’s sinistral downfall. It is almost inconceivable to think of the film’s effectiveness without the terrifying atmosphere of the asylum...
Acclaimed Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook’s offbeat romantic drama, set in a mental asylum, tells the story of Young-goon, who, driven crazy by her assembly line work, thinks of herself as a cyborg and tries to charge herself by plugging into the mains. In the mental hospital, she stubbornly refuses food in favor of a battery charge. In comes anoth...
- 173 votes. Se7en. As an intense and darkly haunting cinematic experience, Seven delves into the twisted world of a methodical serial killer whose crimes are inspired by the seven deadly sins.
- 143 votes. Saving Private Ryan. Saving Private Ryan is a harrowing World War II epic that immerses viewers in the chaos and brutality of war with startling realism.
- 123 votes. Alien. Director Ridley Scott's seminal sci-fi horror classic, Alien, combines masterful storytelling with innovative special effects to create a truly terrifying experience.
- 120 votes. The Shining. Stanley Kubrick's chilling adaptation of Stephen King's novel, The Shining, is a masterclass in psychological horror. Jack Nicholson delivers an iconic performance as Jack Torrance, a man whose descent into madness leads him to terrorize his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd) within the eerie confines of the Overlook Hotel.
Oct 24, 2023 · 1. Pearl. Mia Goth is Pearl, a wannabee starlet capable of going to great lengths to achieve the dream she wants. Released as a prequel to the slasher homage X, Pearl revolved around a young woman...
The following films, in chronological order, all contain a character that at some point takes a turn to madness, some more than others. Some viewers may be disappointed that One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is not included but for this reviewer, it was rather too obvious an inclusion.
Oct 10, 2016 · 10 Most Realistic Films About Going Insane. By. Beth Accomando. - October 10, 2016. Ralph Fiennes stars in ‘Spider’ (Photo © Sony Pictures Classics) Going insane is a terrifying thing and it’s often been used as the foundation for horror films ranging from Psycho to The Shining.
