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James McAvoy, Split

M. Night Shyamalan is said to have consulted doctors about the reality of dissociative identity disorder before making Split, but the terrifying way it’s represented suggests he didn’t take much of their commentary seriously. The movie focuses on Kevin and his abduction of three young girls. He interacts with them as different personalities (he has 23). The audiences primarily see four (Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, and Barry), but eventually "The Beast" (a dangerous amalgamation) appears, pure c...

Jim Carrey, Me, Myself, and Irene

With Jim Carrey in the lead, movies that misrepresent mental illness were bound to include Me, Myself, and Irene. His mild-mannered Charlie character combined with the tough-talking Hank is supposed to be a manifestation of dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia. The film’s dark comedy comes from the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde antics that ensue when one personality tries to assert dominance over the other. Schizophrenia is characterized by delusions and paranoia but has no sign of mult...

Michael Keaton, Christpher Lloyd, Peter Boyle & Stephen Furst, The Dream Team

The Dream Team explores the ramifications of a group of mentally ill psychiatric patients permitted to leave the hospital ward and see a baseball game. Their supervisor is knocked unconscious, and they find themselves free to wander the streets of New York City, led by Billy (Michael Keaton). The characters are all stereotypes, with different psychological disorders. Billy is a nihilistic author, Henry (Christopher Lloyd) is a mail carrier who “went postal,” Jack (Peter Boyle) believes himsel...

Zack Braff, Garden State

Garden State tells viewers thatif they’re diagnosed with a mental illness, but meet the right person, they won’t have to depend so much on medication and therapy. Such is the case for Andrew (Zach Braff) who’s taken antidepressants all his life for clinical depression, which only gets worse with the death of his mother. When he returns to his hometown for the funeral, he meets a bizarre girl (Natalie Portman) who shows him how to feel again. He goes off his medication because, in his mind, it...

Ben Affleck, The Accountant

The action-thriller The Accountantstars Ben Affleckas a CPA who served time for cooking the books for the world’s worst criminals — and while it made for a slick movie, it also severely misrepresented both autism and savant syndrome. Upon Christian Wolff's (Affleck) release, he starts up a tax firm to quietly reintegrate into society by day and go after the criminals he once worked for by night. He has been diagnosed with autism, and this allows him to be hyper-focused, but he has no social s...

Bill Murray, What About Bob?

In What About Bob? Bill Murray plays Bob, a man with several psychological disorders and phobias. He becomes dependent on his doctor (Richard Dreyfuss) to guide him through his everyday challenges. When Dr. Marvin tries to go on vacation with his family, Bob’s neediness can’t allow him to be separated from his health professional. To treat someone as incapable as Bob, whose personality disorders make him incredibly clingy and unable to function without being taken care of, would take years of...

Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

This origin story involving Gotham City's Clown Prince of Crime and Batman's greatest nemesis examines the role that society plays in forming a villain. It posits that a character like Arthur Fleck, derided by his peers for his unique mental illness (laughing or crying uncontrollably in inappropriate settings) could become The Joker if ostracized enough. Joker's mental illness makes him victimized, and the movie does a commendable job of highlighting society's fear about what it doesn't under...

Anthony Perkins, Psycho

While it’s lauded as one of the most effective thrillers that cinema has ever seen, Psychocomes by this reputation as one of the most famous movies that misrepresent mental illness. Norman Bates, the bashful caretaker of the Bates Motel, is overly attached to his mother, and witnessing her become attached to new men and dividing her attention drives him into a rage. He poisons her and her lover and assumes ownership of the motel. When Bates meets Marian, a lovely traveler that stops in for a...

Edward Norton, Fight Club

At its core, Fight Club is about a man with dissociative identity disorder struggling to live in a world that requires a dominant personality to take charge. The Narrator uses the charismatic Tyler (Brad Pitt) as a coping mechanism. Tyler takes over whenever The Narrator can’t find purpose in his life (because if “everyone is special,” no one is). The book actually coined the term “snowflake” to describe The Narrator's disassociation from society. Where Fight Club gets The Narrator's mental i...