Hosts Brandon Gregory and Maria Milazzo, two neurodivergent former English majors, talk about movies as they relate to mental health, mental illness, and invisible illness. From blockbuster hits to arthouse films, there are plenty of movies commenting on these issues. Conditions ranging from depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder to PTSD, emotional abuse, and oppression are discussed.
500 Days of Summer: A Deconstruction of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl
(500) Days of Summer (2009) · Feb 5, 2022
Taxi Driver: You Talkin’ to Me? (and PTSD)
Taxi Driver (1976) · Jan 22, 2022
Lady Bird: A Millennial Coming-of-Age Story
Lady Bird (2017) · Dec 11, 2021
Joker: Why So Seriously Wrong on Mental Illness?
Joker (2019) · Nov 12, 2021
Terminator 2: The Best Action Movie of All Time
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) · Oct 1, 2021
Batman Returns: All About That Catsuit
Batman Returns (1992) · Sep 18, 2021
Annie Hall: Intellectual Woes and Relationship Age Gaps
Annie Hall (1977) · Sep 4, 2021
Elle: Comfort in the Uncomfortable
Elle (2016) · Jul 24, 2021
Network: Still Mad As Hell, Still Relevant
Network (1976) · Jul 10, 2021
Her: Love, Technology, and Mental Health
Her (2013) · May 15, 2021
The Big Lebowski: Giving Approximately 280 Fucks About Philosophy and Politics
The Big Lebowski (1998) · Apr 16, 2021
There Will Be Blood: Capitalism, Religion, and Invisible Illness
There Will Be Blood (2007) · Apr 2, 2021
Serial Mom: Our Movie Mascot, and the Psychology of the Death Penalty
Serial Mom (1994) · Mar 19, 2021
The King’s Speech: Stammering is No Joke
The King's Speech (2010) · Feb 20, 2021
Monster: Poverty, Sex Work, and Mental Health
Monster (2003) · Feb 6, 2021
Split: The Worst Portrayal of Mental Illness in Film?
Split (2016) · Jan 23, 2021
Boyhood: 12 Years of Puberty, Personality, and Abuse
Boyhood (2014) · Jan 9, 2021
Secretary: 50 Shades Better Than Other BDSM Movies (with guests Marion and Kim!)
Secretary (2002) · Dec 25, 2020
Grave of the Fireflies: A Soul-Crushing Wartime Film
Grave of the Fireflies (2005) · Nov 14, 2020
Carrie: The Psychology of Abuse and Criminality (With Pig’s Blood)
Carrie (1976) · Oct 31, 2020
American Psycho: Rich White Men Get to Do Everything
American Psycho (2000) · Oct 17, 2020
Jojo Rabbit: Imaginary Friends and the Psychology of Nationalism
Jojo Rabbit (2019) · Sep 19, 2020
12 Years a Slave: Cumulative Trauma and Dehumanization (with guests Stephanie and Tux!)
12 Years a Slave (2013) · Aug 22, 2020
Get Out: Shedding Some Light on America’s Cordial Racism
Get Out (2017) · Jul 25, 2020
BlacKkKlansman: Tracing the History of America’s Systemic Racism
BlacKkKlansman (2018) · Jun 27, 2020
American Beauty: A 90s Retrospect
American Beauty (1999) · Jun 13, 2020
Mommie Dearest: Fuck You, Christina
Mommie Dearest (1981) · May 30, 2020
Chasing Amy: A 90s Lesbian Film That Doesn’t Quite Get It Right
Chasing Amy (1997) · May 16, 2020
Love and Other Drugs: Marred by Love, Saved by Parkinson’s
Love & Other Drugs (2010) · May 2, 2020
She’s Gotta Have It: 80s Feminism and General Sexiness
She's Gotta Have It (1986) · Apr 18, 2020
Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure: Nostalgia in Troubling Times
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985) · Mar 21, 2020
Colossal: Huge on Addiction, Abuse, and Other Metaphors
Colossal Cave (2016) · Mar 7, 2020
The Last Emperor: Attachment Disorder and Shit
The Last Emperor (1987) · Feb 22, 2020
Juno: A Great Portrayal of ADHD, With Teen Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression
Juno (2007) · Feb 8, 2020
Gandhi: The Psychology of Protest
Gandhi (1982) · Jan 25, 2020
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: Life’s a Bitch, but Good is a Choice
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) · Nov 30, 2019
Terms of Endearment: A Lousy Portrayal of an Overbearing Parent
Terms of Endearment (1983) · Nov 16, 2019
Scarface: A Brutal, Gratuitous Immigrant Story
Scarface (1983) · Nov 2, 2019
Carol: A Respectful Portrayal of Lesbians (but the Patriarchy Sucks!)
Carol (2015) · Oct 19, 2019
Marie Antoinette: It’s Hard Being a Woman in Any Era
Marie Antoinette (2006) · Oct 5, 2019
Dead Poets Society: A Romantic View of Suicide?
Dead Poets Society (1989) · Aug 24, 2019
Dances With Wolves: Adding Humanity to Heritage
Dances with Wolves (1990) · Aug 10, 2019
Shakespeare in Love: What a shitty movie
Shakespeare in Love (1998) · Jul 13, 2019
Little Miss Sunshine: It’s OK to Not Be OK
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) · Jun 29, 2019
The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Being Yourself Isn’t Easy When You’re Queer
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) · Jun 15, 2019
Dog Day Afternoon: A Surprisingly Subtle Look at LGBTQ Issues
Dog Day Afternoon (1975) · Jun 1, 2019
Once Upon a Time in America: Survivor’s Guilt, PTSD, and an Epic Bromance
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) · May 18, 2019
Return of the Jedi: Feelings, Faith, and Carrie Fisher
Return of the Jedi (1983) · May 4, 2019
Clueless: Look who’s clueless now (hint: it’s Brandon)
Clueless (1995) · Apr 20, 2019
Donnie Darko: We still don’t really know what it’s about
Donnie Darko (2001) · Apr 6, 2019
Argo: A hostage situation we knew nothing about
Argo (2012) · Mar 23, 2019
Captain Marvel: 6-word review (spoiler-free)
Captain Marvel (2019) · Mar 19, 2019
Black Swan: Emotional abuse en pointe
Black Swan (2010) · Mar 9, 2019
Natural Born Killers: A little drama and a lot of trauma
Natural Born Killers (1994) · Feb 23, 2019
The Royal Tenenbaums: Family drama has never been so quirky
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) · Feb 10, 2019
Silver Linings Playbook: An unflinching look at bipolar disorder
Silver Linings Playbook (2012) · Jan 16, 2019