Patients and psychology students often ask me to recommend films that could help them better understand their diagnoses or illustrate concepts learned in the college classroom, and thus far in this blog series we have looked at some of the best films released in 2022, including Memoria, Tár, and Apples (a 2020 movie not easily accessible in the United States until last year). As the Academy Awards approach, I would like to propose two tying for first place as the most psychologically incisive films of 2022. Keep in mind the guidelines formulated thus far (readers are referred to previous blog postings for more on these guidelines):
- Films should be accessible.
- Films should not misinform, miseducate, or stigmatize mental health challenges and/or the process of treatment.
- Films should offer hope.
Close was the winner of the Grand Prix at the most recent Cannes Film Festival and is nominated for Best International Film at the 2023 Academy Awards. It also meets the criteria for film therapy; it is accessible, does not stigmatize the characters and their struggles, and, of no minor importance, offers hope. The film explores the friendship between two 13-year-old boys; they are so close that peers in their new high school assume they are a couple. It is left unclear if there is sexual attraction on the part of either Léo (Eden Dambrine) or Rémi (Gustav De Waele), but what is strikingly obvious is that these two boys love each other. Peer influence, however, leads Léo to reluctantly pull away, which sets into motion a chain of events leading to tragedy for both boys and their families.
Close depicts fundamental behaviors characterizing attachment, a topic that has amassed significant public fascination since the release of the book Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love (author’s note: this book title is misleading since attachment research has been occurring for decades and is in no way a “new science”). Attachment behaviors include an intense desire to be with the attachment figure: preferentially seeking out the attachment figure for comfort and security when upset, and experiencing distress when separation occurs for extended periods of time. Sex and relationship researcher Lisa Diamond examined cutting-edge studies and concluded, “[A]lthough contemporary culture often assumes that sexual desire provides the 'energy' behind these powerful feelings, none of these feelings require sexual attraction. As a result, a person’s sexual orientation does not limit his or her capacity for adult attachment: Heterosexuals are capable of falling in love with same-sex friends, and lesbian/gay/bisexual individuals are capable of falling in love with other-sex friends. Our sexual orientations do not orient our romantic feelings, contrary to popular belief" (p. 144). Close depicts the pain of losing an attachment figure, even if that figure is a same-aged peer.
The second film tying for first place is Aftersun. It is one of the best-reviewed films of 2022, including being awarded top place by Sight and Sound in its poll for the best films of the year. It also won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. Shockingly, it was generally ignored by the Academy Awards other than the lead performance of Paul Mescal playing Calum, a 30-year-old celebrating his birthday with his eleven-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio) at a budget resort in Turkey. It quickly becomes clear that father and daughter seldom have the opportunity to be together though the separation between Calum and Sophie’s mother is amicable. What is also abundantly clear is that father and daughter truly love each other. On the surface their shared vacation is placid; they swim, eat, play games, talk, dance, and visit tourist spots. Brief jarringly scenes occurring in a strobe-lit room though suggest anguish. Sophie becomes aware that something is amiss with her father, but her youth prevents her from grasping his suffering. She even unintentionally adds to it. Unfortunately, this vacation is the last time Calum and Sophie will be together. Kudos to the director for making this very clear without once overtly stating it during the movie.
Aftersun is a film that haunted me for days, and it grieves me to determine it is contraindicated for film therapy. Though Aftersun realistically depicts complicated grief, evinces great compassion for its two protagonists, and at a mere one hour and 41 minutes running time is easily accessible, it sadly offers no hope. In contrast to Léo in Close, Sophie is left for decades to despairingly puzzle over what happened to her father, including the signs of an impending mental health crisis she was unable to comprehend at the time. Even more foreboding, Aftersun suggests the possibility of intergenerational trauma as Sophie enters motherhood. Still, it is a film I will be using to teach students about our second most prevalent mental health issue, depression, and its many manifestations.
The 2022 films discussed thus far in this blog series, including Aftersun and Close, demonstrate that some films might be therapeutic for clients, of educational value for students training for clinical roles, or as realistic and psychologically penetrating portrayals of complex mental health concerns, but it is a rare film that can be all three.
THE BASICS