7 movies about schizophrenia

Cinema often gives us great opportunities to learn about circumstances very different from our own. Thus, taking the seventh art as a reference, today we want to talk about schizophrenia.

Of all psychotic disorders, schizophrenia is, on average, one of the most limiting. In fact, its seriousness means that around 50% of those affected are incapacitated. If you want to know how it works and why it can have such devastating effects on the quality of life, we invite you to watch these films about schizophrenia that will make you think.

The lives of these characters are a clear manifestation of strength and bravery. and, above all, it serves to understand the reality in which they find themselves.

1. Benny & Joon, the love of the innocent (1993)

Benny & Joon is a 1993 American film starring Johnny Depp and directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik.

Joon is a young woman who, after the death of her parents, begins to experience hallucinations and delusional ideas, living in a totally imaginary universe. So, her brother dedicates all her efforts to taking care of her, although Sam’s arrival will cause both her problems and her love to intensify.

2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A film about schizophrenia based on a real case. Reviews the life of John Forbes Nash, a mathematician with paranoid schizophrenia who won a Nobel Prize in 1994.

As stated in a study developed at the Universidad de la Frontera in 2016, the film biographically shows how the American mathematician:

He had to face extravagant and confusing situations until he recognized that he suffered from schizophrenia.In addition, he also had to face circumstances (both medical and family) to manage his illness and move forward with his life and home, achieve his dream of becoming a professor at Princeton University, and eventually being awarded the Nobel Prize. of Economics in 1994.

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Definitely, An amazing mind shows the evolution of Nash disease and how important awareness of illness is in these cases.

3. Black Swan (2010)

Darren Aronofsky directs this fantastic film. The script follows the steps of a dancer (played by Natalie Portman), who undertakes the search for artistic perfection.

However, throughout the plot of Black Swan Events occur that make the viewer end up wondering what is really happening.

4. Intimate diary of Adèle H. (1975)

This is a classic. The movie Diary of Adèle H. It is based on the life of Adèle Hugo (one of Victor Hugo’s daughters).

The footage shows us his physical and mental problems, related above all to his obsessive way of experiencing unrequited love; a feeling that ended up consuming her.

5. Angels Without Heaven (1993)

This work, directed by Tim Hunter, reflects the friendship between a young man with schizophrenia and a Vietnam War veteran. Their relationship begins when they meet at a homeless shelter.

In some way, the two find a reflection in each other with which they feel identified.

6. Donnie Darko (2001)

It is one of the most notable cult films to date. It is directed by Richard Kelly and shows through parallel realities and time travel the story of a teenager with schizophrenia and sleepwalking.

Thanks to Frank, a strange character dressed as a rabbit, Donnie is saved from death and, because of this, a tangent universe or parallel reality is created, which should not have happened. Frank warns him that in 28 days the end of the world will happen and from there, Donnie will try to correct some events and ensure that the parallel future that should not have happened does not happen. The question is: are they real or not?

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7. K-Pax (2001)

K-Pax talks about the life of Prot, a man about whom nothing is known and claims to come from a distant planet (K-Pax) to which he wants to return at some point. The information he provides about this planet turns out to be true, although known only to some astrophysicists. However, this does not mean that he does not have a mental illness.

A Prot He is admitted to a psychiatric hospital for his delusional beliefs and he revolutionizes the lives of other people. of the center, as well as the vision of life of his psychiatrist. Throughout the film, Prot’s story is revealed and the reasons why his mind has created a parallel story to protect him from what happened on July 27.

Definitely, K-Pax It is a film that makes us reflect and breaks many myths about mental illness.

It is very difficult for the characters in these films to differentiate what is real from what is not. They are stories that allow us to get an idea of the difficulties that people who suffer from this disorder have to face.

In all the stories there is a part of fiction, but there is also an honest relationship with the complex reality that they have to face every day.