Saddest movies about depression

12 Films and Movies About Depression

While there is often a stigma attached to issues surrounding mental health, public awareness about the condition of depression has grown exponentially in the last several decades. One clear sign of that progress is the number of mainstream Hollywood movies about depression.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that more than 17 million adults in the United States – around 7 percent of the population – suffer from at least one major depressive episode annually.

Depression can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, race, or socioeconomic background and it’s more than just feeling a little bit sad.

Symptoms of depression can range from mild to severely debilitating. They are so painful that it’s common for those living with the condition to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. In fact, research shows that up to a third of people with diagnosed depression also struggle with a substance use disorder.

The presence of a mental health disorder like depression and a substance use disorder is referred to as a co-occurring disorder or a dual diagnosis condition. It’s important to understand that the symptoms of each individual condition exacerbate the symptoms of the other.

Recovery from depression and addiction is possible when both illnesses are treated at the same time with dual diagnosis treatment.

For those battling depression, it’s important to understand that they are not alone and help is available. Independent films and Hollywood movies about depression can be useful tools for recovery because storytelling can start the process of education, understanding, compassion and, ultimately, healing.

Here are 12 Films and Movies About Depression

1. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Little Miss Sunshine is a star-studded independent, dark comedy, in which every member of the Hoover family, with the exception of young Olive, suffers some form of depression.

During their hilarious journey to get Olive registered for a beauty pageant in Florida, the mental health struggles of each character are addressed and, in some cases, overcome.

2. American Beauty (1999)

Nearly sweeping the Academy Awards in the year of its release, American Beauty stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, a man suffering with depression while in the midst of a midlife crisis.

Not only has Lester lost his job, but his wife is cheating on him, he’s smoking pot with the neighbor’s teenage son, and he finds himself having a romance with his daughter’s friend.

3. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

The Virgin Suicides is based on a novel of the same name, and this Sofia Coppola directed film is centered around the Lisbon sisters in a ’70s era suburb.

The film opens with a suicide by the youngest of the sisters. The emotional fallout and response by the girls’ parents only serves to create increased isolation and depression.

4.

Prozac Nation (2001)

Prozac Nation is based on the autobiography of Elizabeth Wurtzel, who famously struggled with depression and drug abuse herself.

This film revolves around the character of Lizzie and her battle with major depression as she attempts to navigate her freshman year at Harvard.

5. Ordinary People (1980)

Ordinary People is an Oscar winning film, directed by Robert Redford, that confronts the turmoil caused by the death of one of the family’s teenage sons in a sailing accident.

The younger son, played by Timothy Hutton, is paralyzed with survivor’s guilt and battles depression before attempting suicide and spending time in a psychiatric hospital.

6. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Packed with stars, from Gene Hackman and Angelica Huston to Gwenyth Paltrow and Luke Wilson among others, The Royal Tenenbaums follows the highly dysfunctional Tenenbaum family. Every member of the family is racked with depression as a result of their upbringing.

This often funny and sometimes sad movie about depression chronicles the many ups and downs caused by depressive symptoms.

7. The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012)

The Perks of Being A Wallflower is an emotional look into the struggles faced by teenagers. This film stars Emma Watson, who plays Sam, and follows three young people who strike up a relationship.

Charlie, played by Logan Lerman, is something of an awkward loner and after a botched attempt to kiss Sam at a party, he falls into depression and isolation.

8. Cake (2014)

In the movie Cake, Jennifer Aniston portrays the character of Claire who lost her son in a car accident that has also left her with chronic physical pain.

The film follows Claire’s battle with depression, hopelessness, and grief on the road to recovery.

9. Garden State (2004)

Zach Braff, who stars in the film Garden State, and also directed it, plays the role of Andrew Largeman, an actor who plays bit parts on television that’s returned home for the funeral of his mother.

Largeman feels responsible for the accident that disabled his mother and, ultimately, caused her death, which leads to his struggles with depression.

10. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

Mildred Hayes, played by Francis McDormand, is suffering from depression as a result of her daughter’s murder in the film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

In her grief, she pays for three billboards advertising the perceived failures of Chief Willoughby, played by Wood Harrelson, in the homicide investigation. Unbeknownst to her, however, is Willoughby’s own battle with depression over a diagnosis of cancer.

11. Love Liza (2002)

Starring Kathy Bates and the now deceased Philip Seymour Hoffman, who sadly succumbed to his real life struggles with addiction, Love Liza is a movie about depression that is spurred by loss.

Wilson Joel, played by Hoffman, loses his wife Liza to suicide. She left him a note that he’s unable to open and instead starts huffing gasoline. His mother-in-law, played by Bates, attempts to help him while also struggling with grief over the loss of her own daughter.

12. Gravity (2013)

While on the surface, the Academy Award winning film Gravity, starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, looks like a movie about outer space. It is also an excellent portrayal of the isolation and disconnection that comes with depression.

After a routine spacewalk leaves two astronauts stranded, with no link to earth or hope of rescue, the only way home may be to venture deeper into space.

Can Movies About Depression Help Others?

As mentioned earlier, more than 17 million adults in the U.S. will experience a depressive episode each year. This doesn’t account for the many teens that are also impacted by depression.

Depression Awareness Month is recognized every year in October and it’s a chance to spread awareness about this mental health condition and offer suggestions for people to get help for overcoming the symptoms and live a happier life.

Understanding that depression can affect anyone and that there’s no shame in seeking help might motivate more people to begin down the road to recovery.

Watching a movie that shows how others deal with mental health issues may suggest to others with similar symptoms that they are not alone.

The list above outlines some of the best movies about depression, but there are so many more excellent ones to choose from.

More Films and Movies About Depression

Below is a quick list of other depression movies for those who are interested.

The Hours
It’s Kind of a Funny Story
World’s Greatest Dad
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Silver Linings Playbook
The Virgin Suicides
Pink Floyd – The Wall
Side Effects
Stranger Than Fiction
Melancholia
Manchester by the Sea
A Star Is Born

14 Movies About Depression That Perfectly Capture the Experience

More than 300 million people have depression, and each person has a unique story. It’s a mental health condition that manifests in a myriad of ways. It can make people feel lonely, detached, down or unmotivated, like there’s no point to anything. It can also spur them to act irrationally or destructively. We need movies about depression — among other works of art — to help us understand, humanize and sympathize with the many ways people experience depression.

What is the real meaning of depression?

Depression is more than just feeling sad, it’s a severe mental health condition and a mood disorder. It is one of the most common mental illnesses in the U.S with 7.3 million adults suffering from it. Depression brings a multitude of daily negative emotions, changing how individuals think, feel, and function. It negatively impacts one’s ability to sleep, work, and enjoy life. Depression often brings an overwhelming sense of hopelessness and despair that doesn’t seem to let up. Symptoms of depression include feeling “numb,” self-loathing, difficulty focusing, decreased energy, and thoughts of death. Depression can be ranked from mild and temporary to serious and persistent. Clinical depression is an example of a severe type of depression.

Movies Featuring Depression

If you’re interested in watching a movie featuring depression, it can be difficult to know where to start. There are hundreds of movies about depression, and thousands with strong themes of depression.

Rather than starting a subjective conversation about which movies are “best” in terms of the filmmaking (good writing, interesting characters, solid plot, etc.), we wanted to learn which ones would best enlighten you on the experience of depression. If you live with depression, you might identify with one or more of the characters in these films or they might provide your family and friends some insight into what you’re struggling with.

To narrow the list, we surveyed our network of more than 1,000 therapists and tracked which movies they recommended most frequently. These films focus on the nature of depression itself: what it is, how it develops, and how it affects both people who have it and those around them.

Below are the top picks for movies about depression, based on our criteria. We organized them by separating the hidden gems (relevant movies people don’t often recommend) from frequent recommendations.

Hidden Gems

Sometimes the people you expect to be happy are actually horribly depressed. “Anomalisa” tells the story of Michael Stone, an author of motivational books about succeeding in customer support and corporate efficiency.

Despite being an expert on helping people live better, happier lives, Stone is clinically depressed. He loathes himself and feels alienated from the world. The film illustrates this by using a perspective where Stone perceives everyone in the world as sounding nearly identical. It demonstrates the existential difficulties of living with depression.

Because of the stigma of mental illness, people don’t necessarily treat those living with depression with much compassion. They do, however, become sympathetic if someone with depression dies by suicide.

“World’s Greatest Dad” tells the story of Lance Clayton, a failed author and high school poetry teacher. He is dating a woman who does not want to publicly acknowledge their relationship. He also has an underachieving, pornography-obsessed son who despises him.

When his son dies due to an autoerotic asphyxiation accident, Clayton arranges his body to make it appear as if he hung himself. He then writes a fake — but beautifully poetic — suicide note to avoid embarrassment. The note claims his son killed himself because of depression.

Clayton is actually the one who is depressed. His depression helped him write such a convincing suicide note. Nonetheless, it is his dead son who receives adulation and sympathy from peers who read the note and think it is beautiful. The community who once regarded his son as nothing but a jerk and loser now praises him as a talented poet who suffered from mental illness.

People who suffer from chronic pain, disability, or illness often develop severe depression. In “Cake” the main character, Claire, struggles with depression after losing her son in a car accident that also causes her to experience chronic pain. The grief and feeling of hopelessness regarding her recovery makes her feel like all she can do is complain about life.

Sylvia Plath is famous for writing literature about her depression. “Sylvia” offers snippets of her poetry and blends them with an exploration of her depression and relationship with husband and fellow poet Ted Hughes.

“The Skeleton Twins” tells the story of an estranged brother and sister who reconnect after the brother attempts suicide and the sister considers it. As the plot unfolds, scenes reveal the causes of their depression and how it affects their lives. Both of them struggle to find pleasure and purpose in anything they do. They often make destructive and irrational decisions as a method of coping.

Depression isn’t only a source of pain for the person who has it. It can also be a burden on others. When people care for those with depression, they sometimes build up resentment for the person they are taking care of. At that point they can either leave the person they are taking care of or try to cope with their frustration.

In “Interiors” a family falls apart as the father separates from the mother because he is tired of caring for her while she struggles with chronic depression and dementia. The mother, Eve, responds by attempting suicide. She then spends years periodically receiving treatment in a sanitorium.

The role of caring for her falls to Joey, one of her daughters. Joey takes out the resulting stress and anger on her mother. Their relationship demonstrates how depression can create a vicious cycle of resentment within families.

Negative beliefs play a central role in shaping depression. They can become a burden that robs people of joy.

In “Garden State” actor Andrew Largeman believes he was responsible for the accident that caused his mother to become disabled and ultimately die. The burden of this guilt has made him indifferent and numb to many aspects of life.

Note:

One of our readers notified us that “Garden State” has rhetoric that makes mental health medication seem like it inevitably numbs emotions and limits the user’s capacity for joy. This is not necessarily true. Medication has side effects that vary between patients. Both mental health medication and psychotherapy are legitimate, research-backed methods of treating mental illness.

The film also depicts the main character suddenly going off his mental health medication rather than working with a mental health professional to gradually wean off. Unlike what the film shows, this practice is dangerous and can result in withdrawal symptoms and more.

“Little Miss Sunshine” is a dark comedy that demonstrates how depression can be a family affair. With the exception of Olive, the titular character and youngest daughter, all of the members of the Faris family struggle with some form of depression. Their mental health burdens often cause them to lash out at one another, which then exacerbates their depression.

Because of her family’s ordeals and outbursts, Olive forms an idea of what clinical depression is and how it is affecting her family. She realizes that her family sees her as a ray of light that helps them cope with their pain.

“Numb” tells the story of a successful screenwriter, Hudson Milbank, whose psychiatrist diagnoses him with depression and depersonalization disorder, a mental illness that involves periods of feeling disconnected or detached from the body and mind. The film criticizes the tendency to overprescribe medications by demonstrating how the psychiatrists Milbank works with believe drugs are the primary solution to his problems.

Frequent Recommendations

“The Hours” portrays the lives of two women who are reading “Mrs. Dalloway,” Virginia Woolf’s acclaimed novel about a wealthy, depressed woman living in England after the first World War. Each woman has their own struggle with depression and identifies with various elements of Woolf’s novel. The film also portrays Woolf herself.

In “Melancholia,” Justine excellently portrays the “acute anguish and the paralyzing hollowness of depression,” according to The New York Times. The titular planet that is about to collide with Earth and destroy everyone is a metaphor for how destructive depression can be. In part because of her depression that causes her to feel like everything is pointless, Justine is impulsive and self-indulgent. It’s hard for her to think about consequences.

Depression doesn’t need to come from trauma, abuse, grief, toxic environments or a dysfunctional family. It is both an illness and way of perceiving the world. Even when people have relatively easy lives, they can construct a series of irrational negative beliefs that sink them into depression and suicidal thoughts.

In “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” this happens to Craig, a 16-year-old who is performing well in school and generally has a good life. Most of his depression comes from the belief that any failure in his life will ruin him down the line. He feels like he’s not good enough in every possible way. After recognizing his depression, he admits himself to a mental hospital.

Depression can rob people of the ability to feel happiness and pleasure, even if their lives are full of success and everything they want. In “Helen,” the titular character experiences this. She conceals her depression from her family for many years until it becomes too severe to ignore any longer. Everyone around her seems genuinely happy, which makes her feel even worse and exacerbates her sense of loneliness.

The main character in “Prozac Nation,” Lizzie, becomes increasingly depressed after she begins succeeding in her literary and journalism career at Harvard. The pressure of the success pushes her into a deep melancholy and destructive behavior. To numb the pain of her depression, she abuses drugs.

Real life experiences with depression inspired many of these films. If you live with depression, you might identify with one or more of the stories or characters. Watching these characters struggle and triumph could be the the inspiration you need to push forward. If you’ve found yourself relating to the characters in these movies, you may benefit from taking our free online depression screening test to learn whether you have depression.

PolicyGenius wrote a report on online therapy and mentioned Talkspace. Click here to learn more!

30 films about depression

The theme of depression is central to many great films. This list includes those that deal with endogenous depression and cases of depression caused by traumatic events, relationship problems, or tormenting anxiety.

This collection does not include stories about depression that is caused by addictions or disabilities (so no pictures like "My Left Leg" or "Nymphomaniac" and the like). Also excluded are cases of depression associated with other mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, as a separate list should be created for them. nine0003

As you can see, films on this subject are not necessarily dark and depressing. Some films offer solutions to improve the mental state. And it happens that the directors, without belittling the seriousness of this disorder, even manage to look from a comedic angle on topics such as suicide and self-harm, for example, in the films “Little Miss Happiness”, “It's a very funny story” and “Twins”. However, most films gravitate toward realism and focus on characters rather than the dramatic stories that are the basis for depression. nine0003

1. The Hours (2002)

The drama film by Stephen Daldry shows a day in the life of three depressed women in different eras: writer Virginia Woolf (for this role Nicole Kidman received an Oscar) in 1923, housewives Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) in 1951 and New York publishing house editor Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) in 2001. All the heroines are connected by Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway. Each of them is trying their best to pull themselves together. A striking plot leads to a nearly identical ending for all three. nine0003

2. Melancholia / Melancholia (2011)

This is the second film in the "trilogy of depression" by director and screenwriter Lars von Trier (the other two are "Antichrist" and "Nymphomaniac"). Starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg. The first part of the film is dedicated to the wedding of one of the heroines, but the mood is filled with anxiety amid uncertainty and rapidly turns into doom before the inevitable. The giant gas planet Melancholia is approaching the Earth, threatening death for all life. nine0003

3. It’s A Wonderful Life (1946)

Responsive and respectable George Bailey, under the burden of everyday hardships, decides to commit suicide. To dissuade him from a serious sin, an inexperienced angel descends from heaven. He decides to show George a parallel world where he doesn't exist.

4. A Single Man (2009)

The action of the picture takes place in 1962. George Falconer, a professor at the University of Southern California, is taking his last day to find the meaning of life. For the past eight months, he has been suffering inconsolably after the death of his lover, with whom he lived for 16 years. Colin Firth in this film played the best role of his career, according to Time magazine. nine0003

5. The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Sofia Coppola's debut film based on the novel of the same name by Jeffrey Eugenides, in the center of which are five young Lisbon sisters living in the 1970s. The story is told by a man who as a child, together with friends, tried to explain the mysterious events associated with the sisters, after the suicide of one of them, 13-year-old Cecilia.

6. Ordinary People (1980)

Robert Redford's directorial debut won 4 Oscars and 5 Golden Globes. The film tells how, after the death of one of the sons of a respectable lawyer, a deep depression develops in the surviving youngest son. He tries to kill himself and starts visiting a psychiatrist. Misfortune does not unite the family at all. It has a crushing effect on each of its members, and no one knows what it will turn out to be in the end. nine0003

7. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Wes Anderson's depressing dramatic comedy with a legendary cast about the Tenenbaum family. Three adult children come to their parents' nest to spend some time with their father who is supposedly dying of an incurable disease. In childhood, they were known as child prodigies and achieved success, and now everyone in their own way suffers from an uncomplicated life.

8. The Apartment (1960)

A black-and-white romantic comedy about a lonely office worker whose only way to advance in his career is to lend the keys to his apartment to several managers for secret love meetings. One day, when he comes home, he discovers the boss's mistress with an overdose of sleeping pills. In it, he recognizes the girl whom he had previously tried to woo.
The film won 5 Oscars.

9. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

In the center of the story is a girl, Olive, who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. But who will help her prepare? The mother is overworked and suffers from neuroses. The father hardly communicates with the girl. Scientist Uncle Frank tried to commit suicide because of a failed romance with a graduate student. Brother Dwayne, obsessed with the teachings of Nietzsche, keeps a vow of silence. Only the drug-addicted grandfather, whose role was played by Alan Arkin and won the Oscar, really helps Olive.

10. Side Effects (2013)

Steven Soderbergh conceived "Side Effect" as his last directorial project before retiring. This psychological thriller was filmed according to the best canons of the genre with an excellent stellar cast, which played out a drama that destroys all logic and reality. Superbly performed the main roles of Jude Law (psychiatrist) and Rooney Mara (patient).

Revolutionary Road (2008)

Titanic stars Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio play a married couple in an adaptation of Richard Yates' novel of the same name. They got married, being young and ambitious, but the family structure and the birth of two children make them forget about grandiose personal plans. For some, a family crisis turns out to be an unbearable ordeal leading to tragedy. nine0003

12. Helpless / Numb (2007)

A film by Harris Goldberg about a Hollywood screenwriter suffering from depersonalization. He lost all emotions and feelings. Neither pills nor exercises help. But the hero met a girl who, perhaps, will awaken in him a taste for life. Comedian Matthew Perry portrayed the main character on screen in one of his best and most transformative roles.

13. Outland / The Fall (2006)

Stuntman Roy is lying in a Los Angeles hospital, who, after an unsuccessful stunt, has lost the ability to walk. He tells the girl Alexandria, who is here with a broken arm, a fantasy story, the heroes of which are the Black bandit, an escaped African slave, an Indian sage, an Italian revolutionary and Charles Darwin. Roy experiences severe suffering and wants to die, so he makes his characters suffer excruciatingly. The tale gradually turns into an epic tale, and Alexandria begins to influence the narration and the narrator more and more. nine0003

14. Antichrist / Antichrist (2009)

The first film in the "trilogy of depression" and the most scandalous film of the outrageous master Lars von Trier. Starring the brilliant Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe. The plot revolves around an unfortunate couple who are desperately trying to recover from the tragic death of their child...
A married couple has passionate sex and does not have time to keep track of a small child who at that time gets out of the crib, falls out of the window and breaks. This death traumatizes the woman's psyche, and her psychotherapist husband decides to take her to a country house where they rested last summer, hoping that unity with nature and temporary isolation will help her recover. However, things turn out quite differently. Left alone with each other, endless guilt and memories of their son, the characters become more and more cruel and wild. nine0003

15. Suicides: A Love Story / Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Fantasy black comedy about suicide Zia. At the beginning of the film, the protagonist kills himself, a voice-over explains what brought him to this moment. But death is not the end, but the beginning of a different, bleak existence in the afterlife, which is not much different from Zia's ordinary life. He learns that among the suicides who are stuck in this purgatory, was his ex-girlfriend and starts looking for her and the genre of the film flows into a road movie. nine0003

16. Girl, Interrupted (1999)

. Among her patients, she makes new friends: the pathological liar Georgina, the sexually abused and bulimic Daisy, the anorexic ballerina Janet, who inflicted burns on Polly, the mentally retarded lesbian Cynthia and the aggressive sociopath Lisa. The role of the latter was played by Angelina Jolie, for which she received an Oscar and a Golden Globe. This biopic is based on the book by Suzanne Kaysen, who spent two years in a psychiatric hospital. nine0003

17. It's A Kind Of A Funny Story (2010)

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck filmed a comedy-drama about a suicidal 16-year-old Craig who is deeply affected by his studies and is afraid of failure in adult life. He seeks help from a doctor and is sent to an adult psychiatric ward for a week, where, after meeting several patients, he finds a will to live.

18. Cake (2014)

Dramatic film starring Jennifer Aniston as Claire, suffering from chronic pain and meaninglessness, whose life has deteriorated both emotionally and physically after a car accident. She is supported by a helpful maid, Sylvanas. And soon Claire begins to be visited by the ghost of Nina, a young woman from a psychological support group who committed suicide. nine0003

19. Two days, one night / Deux jours, une nuit (2014)

In order to keep her job, Sandra (Marion Cotillard) needs to convince her colleagues over the weekend to give up their bonus. Due to the high probability of being fired, which means the loss of a stable source of income, she struggles with embarrassment, calls and goes around the houses of her colleagues, who react to her request in different ways.

20. New York, New York / Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut about theater director Cayden Cotard, who is obsessed with his latest play. It's a strange, ridiculous and grandiose film about loneliness, creative block, unfulfilled desires and the search for love.

21. The Skeleton Twins (2014)

Brother and sister did not communicate for 10 years. They parted so as not to discuss what happened, but fate brings them together and now everyone must reconsider their lives. The film explores their past and the reasons why both are suicidal. They clumsily try to build a relationship, and comedic situations are closely intertwined with serious drama. A hilarious and heartbreaking movie with amazing acting. nine0003

22. Sylvia (2003)

Biopic dedicated to one of the most romantic, tragic and stunning love stories of our time. A drama about the tumultuous romance and troubled relationship between poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, her extreme bouts of depression, and the events that lead to her suicide in 1963.

23. An Angel At My Table (1990)

The film is based on the biographical book of the writer Janet Frame, who spent 8 years in psychiatric clinics and suffered about 200 electroshock sessions due to misdiagnosed schizophrenia. She was saved from a planned lobotomy by a literary award for a collection of short stories. nine0003

24. Ta'm e guilass (1997)

A very simple, thoughtful and attractive drama that appeals to faith in life and strength of mind. The film slowly tells the story of Mr. Badiya, a middle-aged man who travels through the desert and is looking for an assistant to help him die. The hero has already dug a hole on the mountain. But someone has to bury it there.

25. Three Colours: Blue / Trois Couleurs: Bleu (1993)

The first film in Krzysztof Kieślowski's trilogy "Three Colours", raising the themes of freedom and isolation. The plot tells about a young woman, Julie (Juliette Binoche), who miraculously survived a car accident that killed her husband, composer and child. She moves away from her friends and past life, tries to live in solitude and seclusion, away from everything that reminds her of the past. But, despite all the efforts, Julie still pulls back to reality, to music. nine0003

26. Interiors / Interiors (1978)

One of the few family dramas by Woody Allen, devoid of witty sarcasm, irony and humor. The film is shot in the Bergman style and focuses on the naked and authentic emotions of the characters. It tells about the relationship of three sisters with their mother, who is going through a divorce and suffers from a nervous breakdown.

27. It's Good to Be Quiet / The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012)

Written and directed by Steven Chbosky, author of the novel of the same name, based on which the film is based. It tells about an introverted teenager Charlie, who writes letters to an unknown recipient about all his experiences. He is unable to recover from the death of his aunt and the strange suicide of his best friend. The hero learns to build relationships, finds friends among peers and changes his views on the world. nine0003

28. Helen (2009)

Film about relapses and triggers of depression. Director and screenwriter Sandra Nettelbeck ignored the dynamic moments of the plot and relied on the constant ups and downs of the heroine's depressive state. Despite a successful career and happy marriage, Helen regularly experiences panic attacks and sobs, but tries to appear mentally healthy.

29. On The Edge (2001)

Irish movie star Cillian Murphy starred in John Carney's film about 19-year-old guy who gets into a convertible, taking an urn with the ashes of his father, and at high speed directs the car to a cliff. But he fails to end his life. Miraculously, John escapes death and ends up in a mental hospital. He gets a second chance to find out that life is not such a bad thing after all.

30. Prozac Nation (2001)

The film is based on the autobiography of Elisabeth Wurzel. The up-and-coming journalist studies at Harvard and writes successful reviews for Rolling Stone magazine. But she comes into an unstable mental state and experiences a creative crisis, and taking cocaine and ecstasy only worsens her health, transient into severe depression, the signs of which were manifested in Elizabeth's childhood due to the divorce of her parents. nine0003

Based on materials from the Vkus kino website.

May 19, 2016

7 films about depression

Movies about heroes undergoing treatment for depression or being in this state can be very different, and not necessarily sad and gloomy. There are also life-affirming films that help to cope with a depressed state and improve mood. And some pictures about depression are presented in a comedy genre, without detracting from the seriousness of the disorder. We have collected for you different films, both sad and funny, which illustrate the topic of depression from different angles and touch on its most basic aspects. nine0003

Melancholy (2011)

See also

What is depression?

This is a film directed and written by Lars von Trier, which centers on the relationship between two sisters Justine and Claire on the eve of the wedding of one of them. At the same time, the world is plunged into chaos and panic due to the approaching end of the world. At first, Justine becomes depressed because of the upcoming marriage, but the less time remains before the apocalypse, the calmer and more peaceful she feels. What can not be said about her sister - Claire falls into despair and does not want to put up with what is happening. nine0003

This Wonderful Life (1946)

George Bailey is a loving husband and father, as well as the owner of a credit company. He is depressed because of the problems that have fallen on him and is thinking about suicide. To prevent George from committing suicide, Heaven sends a guardian angel to him - kind, sweet, but not very experienced. He hasn't even earned his wings yet. The task of the guardian angel is to dissuade George from suicide as soon as possible, and he decides to show George a world in which he does not exist. nine0003

The Tenenbaums (2001)

The film is dedicated to an extraordinary family, where everyone has a unique talent. Margo has become a famous writer at the age of ten, Chas has achieved great success in the financial field, and Richie is a gifted tennis player. The children learn that the father of the family, Royal Tenenbaum, is dying of an incurable disease, and he has only six weeks to live. The family decides to get together and Royal tries his best to catch up and give the children all their attention. nine0003

Little Miss Happy (2006)

The film's protagonist, Olive, is a little girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. Her family supports her in this, but they have a lot of worries, so there is little they can do to help. Her uncle Frank tried to commit suicide after an unsuccessful romance, brother Dave took a vow of silence, and dad practically does not communicate with his daughter, but only maintains a relationship with her mother. Of Olive's entire family, only her drug-addicted grandfather is willing to help prepare for the contest. As a result, the family still breaks down and goes to distant California so that Olive can participate in the Little Miss Happy contest. nine0003

Helpless (2007)

The protagonist of the film is screenwriter Hudson Milbank, who suffers from severe depression and depersonalization - alienation of his own thoughts, emotions and actions. Antidepressants and psychiatrists do not help him, as well as the attempts of his friends to return him to a normal life. It is very difficult for Hudson to get along not only with other people, but also with himself. He feels extremely depressed, and only a girl helps him find a way to live in this world. nine0003

It's a very funny story (2010)

Craig is 16, suffering from depression and is trying to find salvation in a psychiatric clinic. There, he accidentally ends up in the adult ward, and one of the patients, Bobby, becomes his mentor. Craig also meets a girl at the clinic, one of the patients, and takes a liking to her. This film is about how in five days you can learn a lot about life, friendship and love.

nine0202 Cake (2014)

Claire Bennet survived a terrible tragedy and now suffers from scars and severe back pain. She goes to support club meetings and physical therapy sessions, which do nothing for her. Claire begins to think more and more about what she should live for.

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