The best movies like Girl, Interrupted explore the complex worlds of mental health services, both the good and the bad, and on a more meaningful level, try to understand the emotional journeys people with mental health conditions go on. Girl, Interrupted premiered on December 21, 1999, capping off an incredible year in film which included The Matrix, The Mummy, American Beauty, and some of the decade's best horror movies. Girl, Interrupted is in a genre all its own. It's a tense psychological drama that also serves as a sweet coming-of-age story.
The film follows Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), a nervous, troubled young woman who overdoses on aspirin and alcohol and is forcibly committed to Claymoore, a psychiatric hospital. There, she meets a group of young women her age who are also dealing with a variety of mental health conditions. Together, the girls deal with the boredom, and sometimes pain, of their stay and learn more about themselves in the process. One of the popular Hollywood films that understand mental illness, movies like Girl, Interrupted are always welcome when a director is willing to try their hand.
10 I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (2006)
An Unlikely Romantic Comedy
In I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK, by director Park Chan-wook, Young-goon (Im Soo-jung) is a struggling young woman who thinks that she's a cyborg, and after trying to charge herself with a power cable, she is sent to a psychiatric hospital. There she meets Il-Soon (Rain), who is undergoing treatment for schizophrenia and antisocial behavior. The unlikely couple finds themselves falling in love, leading to a quirky, charming, and ultimately moving love story.
Angelina Jolie is renowned for her girl-with-gun roles and dramatic performances but some great work of her career has gone unjustly overlooked.
I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK may sound silly on its face, but the film and the characters in it, take delusions and mental health seriously. No one is mocked for needing help and the individuals are treated compassionately. The couple at the center of the film are far from the standard rom-com couple, but Chan-wook gives them the sweeping love story they deserve.
9 Short Term 12 (2013)
A Group Home Supervisor Learns What Mental Health Can Look Like
Short Term 12 follows Grace, a compassionate supervisor at a residential facility for at-risk teenagers, as she navigates her personal struggles while supporting the youths in her care. The film explores the dynamics and challenges within the group home setting, showcasing the resilience and dedication of its staff and residents.
Director Destin Cretton
Release Date August 23, 2013
Runtime 96 minutes
Short Term 12 does not take place in a mental health hospital like Girl, Interrupted but it does feature an ensemble of young people struggling to understand the mental health conditions they are living with. The film centers on Grace (Brie Larson), a young social worker who is employed at a short-term shelter for troubled youth. Her own traumatic past helps her relate to the kids who come through, but she might have met her match when Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) arrives.
The ensemble cast of Short Term 12 is reason enough to see it with future stars like Stephanie Beatriz, Lakeith Stanfield, Rami Malek, and Brie Larson in the early stages of their careers. Like Girl, Interrupted, Short Term 12 considers whether the clinical way doctors and society talk about mental health could possibly be doing more harm than good, and that everyone, no matter the severity of their mental illness, deserves support.
8 Shutter Island (2010)
A Tense Mystery About Knowing Oneself
Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley. Set in 1959, Shutter Island follows two U.S. Marshalls - Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) as they are sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital specializing in psychiatric care.
Release Date February 19, 2010
Runtime 138 minutes
Budget $80 million
Martin Scorsese's underrated mystery thriller, Shutter Island, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as US Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who travels to the isolated mental health facility, Ashecliffe Hospital, on Shutter Island. There he discovers that not everything is what it seems to be and he and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) uncover a conspiracy that may reveal more about Teddy than he ever would have guessed.
Both Girl, Interrupted and Shutter Island present their psychiatric hospitals as places that are slightly unknowable and perhaps a bit frightening, with secret passageways and orderlies without the patients' best interests at heart. However, both films slowly reveal that the hospitals are actually trying their best and, when dealing with mental illness, some doctors do in fact want to help, but it's up to the patients to acknowledge they want the care and are willing to accept it.
7 It's Kind Of A Funny Story (2010)
An Earnest Look At Mental Health Stigma In The United States
It's Kind of a Funny Story is a 2010 film based on Ned Vizzini's novel. Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, the movie follows 16-year-old Craig Gilner, played by Keir Gilchrist, who checks himself into a psychiatric hospital. The film also stars Zach Galifianakis and Emma Roberts, exploring themes of mental health and self-discovery set against the backdrop of an adolescent's struggles and realizations.
Director Anna Boden , Ryan Fleck
Release Date October 8, 2010
Cast Keir Gilchrist , Dana DeVestern , Lauren Graham , Jim Gaffigan , Karen Chilton , Zach Galifianakis
Runtime 91 minutes
In It's Kind of a Funny Story, Craig (Keir Gilchrist) is a depressed high school student who checks himself into a psychiatric hospital for a week after he begins seriously contemplating suicide. There he meets a handful of other patients who help him get a better handle on his outlook on life. Bobby (Zack Galifianakis) is a father who shares Craig's suicidal ideation, and Noelle (Emma Roberts) is about Craig's age and has struggled with self-harm.
It's Kind of a Funny Story
is based on Ned Vizzini's autobiographical novel of the same name that was published in 2006.
As the film goes on, Craig, like Susanna in Girl, Interrupted, finds comfort in his new, quirky group of friends. The film is very straightforward in how it discusses mental illness, which even the comedy treats in a bold and unedited way. That may come off as disingenuous, but it becomes clear that It's Kind of a Funny Story has real empathy for the reality of mental illness and knows that laughter can be found even in a difficult situation.
6 Heathers (1989)
Winona Ryder Plays A Similarly Lost, Brooding Character
Heathers is a dark comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann, featuring Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer and Christian Slater as J.D. Released in 1989, the story delves into high school social hierarchies and the consequences of rebelling against popular cliques. The film addresses themes of teen angst, peer pressure, and the impact of destructive behavior within a satirical framework.
Director Michael Lehmann
Release Date March 31, 1989
CastWinona Ryder , Christian Slater , Shannen Doherty , Lisanne Falk , Kim Walker , Penelope Milford
Runtime 103 minutes
Budget $3 million
Winona Ryder puts on a similarly impressive performance in her 1989 classic, Heathers, as she does ten years later in Girl, Interrupted. In both films, Ryder plays a brooding, sarcastic loner, who is fathoms deep once the audience gets to know her. In Heathers, Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) joins the cool clique at her high school, until she grows bored with their shallowness. She befriends a new arrival at school, J.D. (Christian Slater), who wants to murder the popular students and stage their deaths as suicides.
The general tone of both films is similar, being dark and probing, and though
Heathers
is much more outrageous, Ryder's characters in both are surprisingly similar.
The general tone of both films is similar, being dark and probing, and though Heathers is much more outrageous, Ryder's characters in both are surprisingly similar. Both characters believe that they have all the answers and that their problems are the most important thing. They both have to be humbled by those around them before they're allowed to change.
5 Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Mental Illness Is A Fact Of Life
Based on the novel by Matthew Quick, Silver Linings Playbook stars Bradley Cooper as Pat Solitano Jr., a recently released psychiatric patient struggling with bipolar disorder and living with his parents in rural Pennsylvania. Determined to win back his ex-wife, Pat teams up with Tiffany Maxwell to both rekindle his relationship and help Tiffany win a dance competition. Jennifer Lawrence stars alongside Cooper as Tiffany, with Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and Chris Tucker also making up the cast.
Director David O. Russell
Release Date November 16, 2012
Runtime 122 Minutes
Budget $21 Million
Silver Linings Playbook, a movie from director David O. Russell, stars Bradley Cooper as Pat Soltano Jr., a Pennsylvania man who has just been released from a mental health facility after undergoing treatment for bipolar disorder. While trying to reacclimate to living with his parents, he meets Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence), a neighbor who is also managing her mental illness. Together, they begin a precarious relationship that grows in meaningful and funny ways.
Mental illness is presented in a straightforward manner in Silver Linings Playbook, and like Girl, Interrupted, the camera does not shy away from uncomfortable moments. The difficulties of trying to support someone with a mental illness, particularly with limited resources, are presented in plain detail in Silver Linings Playbook. Pat and Tiffany's mental conditions are not vilified, they are just parts of their lives, for better and for worse.
4 The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Sophia Coppola's Psychological Drama About A Mysterious Family Of Sisters
The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola, is a drama that explores the enigmatic lives of five Lisbon sisters in a quiet suburban neighborhood. The film is set in the 1970s and chronicles the impact of the sisters' sheltered upbringing on the community, revealing themes of love, loss, and adolescence. James Woods and Kathleen Turner star as the parents, with Kirsten Dunst featuring prominently as one of the sisters.
Director Sofia Coppola
Release Date May 19, 1999
Runtime 97 Minutes
Budget $6.1 Million
If Girl, Interrupted shows an example of what mental health support can do to those living with mental health conditions, The Virgin Suicides shows the worst case of what can happen when those support structures aren't just ignored, but specifically kept from those who need them. The film follows the Lisbon family, a devoutly Catholic family whose parents do not let their five daughters interact with the other children in the neighborhood.
A tragic death in the family leads to unresolved anger and grief that manifests in some terrible ways. Suicide is a major theme of The Virgin Suicides, as suggested by the title. The movie, like Girl Interrupted, is also about femininity and how female adolescence is a difficult world for anyone to penetrate, particularly when those trying to probe are uninterested in exploring how the girls feel.
3 The Miseducation Of Cameron Post (2018)
The Idealized 1990s Are Hiding Something Much Sadder
The Miseducation of Cameron Post explores the journey of a teenager, Cameron Post, as she navigates life in a 1993 conversion therapy center. Under the strict supervision of Dr. Lydia Marsh and Reverend Rick, Cameron befriends fellow residents, Jane and Adam, forming bonds while confronting societal intolerance.
Release Date July 18, 2018
Cast Chloe Grace Moretz , Sasha Lane , Forrest Goodluck , John Gallagher Jr. , Jennifer Ehle , Marin Ireland , Owen Campbell , Kerry Butler , Quinn Shephard , Emily Skeggs , Melanie Ehrlich , Isaac Jin Solstein , Christopher Dylan White , Dalton Harrod , Steven Hauck , McCabe Slye , Dale Soules , Andre B. Blake , Nick Covell , Cerrone May , Joshua Thomas , Shelby L. Collete , Francesca Noel , Jack Dorado , Peter Heller
Runtime 92 minutes
In The Miseducation of Cameron Post, the eponymous Cameron (Chloë Grace Moretz) is forced to undergo conversion therapy after her family discovers she is gay. Unlike Girl, Interrupted, Cameron is not subjected to any frightening modes of therapy, like the shocks Angelina Jolie's Lisa Rowe suffers. It's a much quieter and simpler film, and all the more realistic for it. Instead, Cameron is faced with shaming by her councilors, shaming that Cameron fiercely stands up against.
Cameron makes friends at her camp who help her get through the frustrating ordeal, and the movie quickly turns into a charming coming-of-age drama. The Miseducation of Cameron Post is not about the horrors of conversion therapy, though the camp is certainly not celebrated; it's more about the little struggles that add up when trying to be oneself in a regressive environment.
2 One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Miloš Forman's Seminal Story About A Group Of Patients At A Mental Institution
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest stars Jack Nicholson as a Korean War veteran who pleads insanity after being charged with a heinous crime. R.P. McMurphy is transferred to a mental institution, where he quickly discovers all of the patients are being controlled by a passive-aggressive Nurse named Mildred Ratched. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was critically praised upon release and took home five Oscars at the 1976 Academy Awards.
Director Milos Forman
Release Date November 19, 1975
Runtime 133 minutes
Budget $3 million
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may be the movie that all other films set in a psychiatric hospital look to when telling their own story, either to understand how the subject should be treated, or looking for specific things to avoid in order to not be accused of just ripping off the Academy Award-winning movie. The film follows Randle McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a new patient at a mental institution for incarcerated people.
Like Girl, Interrupted, the patients in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest have to escape the confines of the hospital to find freedom and joy, and they bring a little bit of the outside world back with them when they return. There are also similarities between Randle and Lisa. Both are the leaders of their groups and rail against the structures put around them in their respective hospitals, and both suffered heavy prices for their unwillingness to be categorized and demonized for their mental illnesses.
1 Man Facing Southeast (1987)
An Argentinian Science Fiction Film About An Alien Who Wants To Understand Humanity
The Argentinian science fiction movie, Man Facing Southeast, Dr. Denis (Lorenzo Quinteros) is an employee at a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires. One day, he comes to work to find a new patient present. The man introduces himself as Rantés (Hugo Soto), and he claims he's a projection from space, of a being interested in learning more about the human condition. Everyone is immediately drawn to the new visitor but when he leaves the hospital, he constantly runs into trouble.
Despite all the fun the movie has with its conceit, Man Facing Southeast is still profoundly sad. Similarly to how Girl, Interrupted doesn't always offer answers about mental health and the human condition, Rantés also has trouble understanding how humanity can be both exuberantly happy, and depressingly sad. Both films make a strong case that just a bit of compassion can drastically improve a life, and by doing that, humanity glows a bit brighter.
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