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There is the old saying that “every healer needs a healer”. Even when the treatment was still in its infancy, Sigmund Freud said that all psychoanalysts should “commit themselves” to analysis. Recent movies are well aware of the unbreakable cycle of pain. In the preferences of If I Had Legs I’d Kick YouRose Byrne’s car for Mary Bronstein, who plays a nursing mother and a crippled mother caught in the crosshairs, or 2022 Smilein which a psychiatrist (Sosie Bacon) is haunted by a terrible metaphor for her poor mental health, the therapist is as sympathetic to their suffering as anyone else.
Rather than being given a supporting role, he has been in everything from Good Will Hunting (1997) to The SopranosThe film is finally giving the agents their turn in the chair. After a month in UK cinemas, two more rogue bikers are taking the lead roles. Back rooms sees Renate Reinsve completely free from a safe, calm and collected psychiatrist and self-help writer (albeit one who lives alone and eats junk food) to a nervous breakdown trying to navigate the strange paths of his mind. Currently in Rebecca Zlotowski A Secret Lifethe Francophone Jodie Foster takes on the role of a minor turned sleuth, who decides to investigate the death of a former client without realizing that she is trying to make up for her shortcomings as a spouse and parent.
The reason for this new display of sick patients is obvious in some ways: more people are receiving treatment than ever before. A 2026 survey found that 37% of adults in the UK are looking for their jobs, an increase of 2% last year. Although it was stigmatized a few years ago, treatment is now called “adultery”. The rise of therapy assistants, or “TherapyTok”, has allowed these professionals and their voices to cross the boundaries of the therapy room into popular culture. Several podcasts have been devoted to this topic, from psychologist Esther Perel’s Where Do We Begin? to the crime podcast The Shrink Next Door, which may have inspired Zlotowski. Then reality television began to happily break with the mystery of the client, and Couples Therapy, both of which helped push the practice to the pinnacle of all knowledge.
Even so-called therapy-speak has migrated to cinema. Critic Billie Walker points to the questionable use of language in the insane imagination of franchises such as the Nicolas Cage vampire flick Renfield (2023), where the protagonist has a revelation that he has an unrequited relationship with Dracula. Beyond the human recognition of magic, however, the film’s reputation for magicians has deteriorated over the years. In Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010), the menacing staff of an asylum may or may not be plotting to take down notorious police officer Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio). Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley (2021) featured a doctor who seemed straight from hell, Dr Lilith Ritter (Cate Blanchett), who kidnaps her wealthy client and captures his parts for later use. And in Beau Is Afraid (2023), the helper of a weak son reveals himself to be one of his enemies.
Perhaps this group of evil-doing professionals has completed their education in a circular, clear sense of these witches. The filmmakers have made sure that the agents are not, as Bronstein says, “perfect”, dedicated people like Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, but flawless people – their choice of the perfect mentor makes them more interesting. As her daughter’s carer, Byrne’s character Linda is at her wits end, unable to care for herself, let alone her patients. But also his expert (and boss), the depressed Conan O’Brien, who has his own life and weaknesses to deal with, cannot be there for Linda as he would like, and creates an endless group of frustrated assistants.
What this new organization of computer malpractice experts has in common is that they are in a dangerous environment. The supernatural elements that these filmmakers create are designed to highlight the negative emotions of their main characters. Whether it’s the labyrinth of augmented memory in Backrooms, the magical asbestos-filled hole in the ceiling in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, the hungry demon in Smile or the sinister magical journey in A Private Life, the otherworldly aspects of these stories contribute to a culture of fear and dread. Although there have been some unusual plays that resemble healers in recent years, such as Decreaseby default these fictional people live in dangerous places.
More than the villainous therapist trope – which suggests that our inferiority is there to bring us down – these new therapists tap into a deep fear. Since all people are guilty in their own way and burdened with their burdens, how can any agent be prepared to deal with another person’s problem? It is telling that in all these books, the real horror starts when the former owner’s helper loses hope. Although skepticism exists around therapy as an infallible cure for our problems, it is not surprising that we see such concerns displayed on screen.
