Note: Films listed here have links to Amazon.com for your information only. Amazon.com does not provide any compensation in return for these links.

Man Facing Southeast
Hard-to-find film by Argentinian magical realist Eliseo Subiela (subtitled). K-Pax was (very poorly) based on this film, and is not a substitute. A psychiatrist finds a new patient in the asylum who claims to be from outer space. The robotic visitor is seduced by music and humanity, and he teaches his doctor about compassion and spirit, while the doctor becomes increasingly aware of his own alienation and loss of humanity.

Fearless
A film about post-traumatic stress disorder. Two people who survive a plane crash learn how to cope and support each other and return to life. Shows different ways that people can detach and drift in the world following an overwhelming experience.

Another Woman
A lesser-known dramatic Woody Allen film about a middle-aged college professor who overhears a psychoanalyst’s sessions with a female patient and winds up having an existential crisis: she begins to realize that her life is not as she thought and other people see her very differently than she had seen herself. Also of interest, Henderson the Rain King (see Books).

Ordinary People
Classic and moving story of depression and alienation in an affluent white family, following the death of an older brother who was the family “star.” Possibly the first positive portrayal of a psychotherapist in film.

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