30 Movies That Inaccurately Portray Mental Health Conditions

The following article discusses several mental health conditions.

In cinema, it’s common to stereotype mental health and categorize characters as “unstable” due to their perceived or actual mental health illness(es). The problem with Hollywood telling stories involving mental health conditions is the villainization of the characters with these issues. Inaccurate portrayals of mental health leads to unfair stigmatization against those suffering from these conditions in real life.

Even in films where mental health disorders aren’t villainized, inaccurate portrayals are harmful due to the way they shape audience expectations. Such inaccuracies can lead to further stigmatization of the conditions the movies are depicting. For example, films about characters with genius-level intellect or sensationalized and exaggerated quirks don’t portray the lived-in reality of people with these actual conditions. Consequently, the misinformation spread through these films can be damaging. Unfortunately, even excellent movies such as A Beautiful Mind and The Shining can inaccurately portray mental health illnesses.

Updated on April 21, 2025, by Natasha Elder: Portraying mental illnesses in film is a difficult task, given the complexity of the topic. Some films make very little attempt to do so correctly, such as is the case in Gigli. Unfortunately, even films like i am sam that attempt to have a more nuanced take often end up falling short. We wanted to call attention to the inconsistencies and poor portrayals of mental illness in even more films, further expand on why these films miss the mark and adjust imagery to provide a better reading experience.

30

Joker: Folie à Deux Doubles Down on the First Film’s Inconsistencies

There Are Problems With the Joker and Harley Quinn

Joker: Folie à Deux was the heavily anticipated sequel to 2019’s Joker by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix in the main role, which ended up flopping. The film follows Arthur Fleck as he navigates his way through Arkham Asylum, where he meets another inmate, Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn. Harley convinces Arthur to once again adopt his Joker personality during his highly publicized trial. Folie à Deux also includes numerous musical sequences set within a fantasy world shared by Arthur and Harley.

While its predecessor was criticized for its problematic depiction of mental health disorders, Folie à Deux doubles down on these issues. A major segment of the film is dedicated to Arthur’s argument that the Joker is another personality that he cannot fully control. Joker: Folie à Deux only furthers the stigma that people who suffer from Dissociative Identity Disorder are violent and dangerous. Furthermore, Harley Quinn seems to share in Joker’s psychosis, which is a real thing that can happen—but the film never seems interested in exploring this phenomenon beyond its lackluster musical sequences.

29

Riding the Bus with My Sister Gives a Simplistic View of Intellectual Disability

Consequently, the Portrayal Comes Across as Insensitive

Based on a memoir of the same name, Riding the Bus with My Sister follows Beth and Rachel Simon as they ride the fixed-route buses through the streets of Reading, Pennsylvania. Beth has an intellectual disability and, after their father dies, Rachel takes it upon herself to ride with Beth on the buses. Although Rachel criticizes several aspects of Beth’s life at the beginning of the film, she ultimately comes to accept that Beth is happy as she is.

As is unfortunately common in films such as these, the movie is more about how Beth has made Rachel a better person rather than giving Beth depth. This is made more egregious by the fact that Beth’s personality was made more extreme in the movie when compared to the memoir. This is apparent, as Beth constantly says “wacky” things and wears multi-colored clothing to emphasize that she is neuroatypical in a way that is more offensive than authentic.

28

Radio Attempts to be a Feel-Good Film

Instead, It Is Riddled with Demeaning Stereotypes

Like many films of this kind, Radio sets out to be a feel-good film about a mentor and mentee and ends up becoming overly sentimental. The eponymous Radio has an intellectual disability. One day, he is abused by football players whose coach finds out. Coach Jones not only helps Radio and punishes the players, but also continues to help Radio. This leads to Radio re-enrolling in high school to get his diploma.

Unfortunately, Radio is portrayed as a do-no-wrong type of character, who is unfailingly good no matter what. This unnuanced take serves to develop the neurotypical characters around him rather than be an exploration into Radio’s impressive ability to continue to be kind despite how others treat him. Ultimately, Radio is about how improved Coach Jones is rather than how Radio has grown as a character, despite the fact that Radio is supposed to be the mentee in this relationship.

27

i am sam Has a One-Dimensional Depiction of Mental Illness

Similarly, the Complexity of the Issue at Hand Is Not Explored as In-Depth as It Deserves

Credit where credit is due, i am sam takes a more nuanced approach to mental illness than most other films. Rather than solely making the titular Sam a character through which the neurotypical people around him learn a lesson about those with a mental illness, Sam is a fully realized character on his own. In i am sam, a man with an intellectual disability finds himself in a court case regarding his ability to care for his young daughter, who has already surpassed his intelligence.

This is a complicated issue, and it is worth acknowledging a film that tries to address such a matter. That being said, Sam is not completely free from the stereotypical presentation of a character like him, despite having a bit more complexity. i am sam takes an overall simplistic view, with Sam’s cheerfulness being portrayed as the solution to many of life’s issues without taking into consideration the context in which certain situations arise. Similarly, the films ends up taking up the position that love and positivity is all that is needed to raise a child, ultimately ignoring the deeper explorations of ability that most of the film sets out to do.

26

Gigli Not Only Has an Inaccurate Portrayal of Intellectual Disability, but Is Offensive in General

Slurs Are Thrown at the Mentally Ill Throughout the Film

There are many problems with the film Gigli (enough that the director never worked in Hollywood again), not the least being the fact that it has a bad portrayal of mental illness. Larry Gigli is a mobster who is tasked with kidnapping the younger brother of a federal prosecutor. The brother, named Brian has a mental disability and a fixation on Baywatch. Larry exploits this, using Brian’s love for the show to convince Brian to go with him.

Really, though, the film revolves around the romance between Larry and Ricki, a woman who was hired to make sure Larry got the job done. Having Brian be a side character isn’t a bad thing on its own, but it provides even less opportunity to actually explore his character. He is stereotyped to be simplistically good, and not much else. Instead, Brian is just someone for the other two to react to. Additionally, multiple slurs related to mental disabilities are said throughout the film, further demonstrating a disregard for those with mental illnesses.

25

King of Hearts Depicts Those with Mental Illness as Living in a Fantasy Land

This Infantilization of Those with Mental Disabilities Is Insulting

Unsurprisingly, there are films produced outside the United States that also portray mental illnesses in a flawed way. Le Roi de cœur, or The King of Hearts is one such film. A joint French/Italian production released in 1966, The King of Hearts takes place at the end of World War I. As German soldiers flee a French town, they leave behind a bomb to detonate it, and it is up to a singular Scottish soldier to remedy the situation. When he arrives, though, he finds that patients with unnamed mental illnesses have taken over the town.

While these patients are benign, they also experience pretty significant delusions. However, the film reinforces the idea that a mental illness as serious as that which these patients are experiencing isn’t actually a problem. In fact, the movie ends with the suggestion that their lives are perhaps even better, as they, and the soldier, return to the asylum that they were housed in at the beginning of the film rather than face the outside world. This is not only an unrealistic view of mental illness, but also an insulting infantilization that depicts those experiencing delusions as clueless, innocent, and relentlessly happy.

24

American Psycho Stereotypes Antisocial Personality Disorder

Most People With Antisocial Personality Disorder Never Turn Violent

Christian Bale stars as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, which follows his character as he slowly grows more and more fed up with the state of the world around him, particularly in the office setting in which he works. Charted through intense inner monologs, Bateman slowly loses his grip on reality and lashes out at his so-called friends and coworkers, going on a bloody and gleeful murder spree. The film ends with some ambiguity, as audiences are left to wonder whether its events took place or if it was all in Bateman’s head.

American Psycho may be considered a terrific film, but that doesn’t mean that it has a strictly accurate representation of real-life mental health conditions. Patrick Bateman clearly suffers from some level of narcissistic and antisocial personality disorders, making it difficult for him to relate to the people around him. However, as is unfortunately so often the case in films dealing with personality disorders, American Psycho portrays a violent rampage that isn’t accurate to how most people deal with such issues.

23

The Predator Takes a Weird Swing at Portraying Autism

This Classic Monster Franchise Takes a Strange Diversion in Its 2018 Reboot

The Predator is not a film that most viewers would expect to deal with mental health conditions, but the 2018 reboot of the classic sci-fi franchise takes a weird and uncalled-for swing in this general direction. In the film, audiences meet Jacob Tremblay’s Rory McKenna, a young boy who is on the Autism Spectrum. At the end of the film, it is suggested that those with autistic tendencies actually represent the next step in human evolution, and are therefore the subject of the Predator’s hunt.

The Predator‘s strange statement regarding autism was predictably ridiculed upon the film’s release, as audiences wondered what point the filmmakers were trying to make. The film also received criticism for underlining the stigma that those on the Autism Spectrum have an automatically boosted IQ. This would be perilous for young people dealing with such health conditions who may not feel they measure up to the inaccurate portrayal seen in this film.

22

Rain Man Isn’t an Accurate Depiction of Most People’s Experience

Autism and Savant Syndrome Aren’t Always Interlinked

Rain Man is one of the most famous films to portray a main character on the Autism Spectrum. The film stars Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt, an Autistic Savant who has impeccable recall but displays very little emotion. During the events of the film, Raymond mends his relationship with his estranged brother, Charlie, played by Tom Cruise.

Although Rain Man received numerous accolades upon its release, including an Academy Award for Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman’s performance, it isn’t necessarily the healthiest portrayal of the conditions discussed therein. The film portrays a very rare condition, as most individuals on the Autism Spectrum are not considered savants. Moreover, the skills displayed by Hoffman’s character in Rain Man are exceedingly rare, potentially shifting public perception of the syndrome in the wrong direction.

21

Girl, Interrupted Missed the Mark With BPD

However, It’s Likely a Case That Highlights Inaccuracies With Being Diagnosed

Based on Susanna Kaysen’s memoir, Girl, Interrupted is set in a psychiatric facility during the ’60s. Susanna is diagnosed with BPD and the movie covers her time and struggles at the facility. Girl, Interrupted has been praised for a multitude of reasons. The portrayal of the mental health facility is accurate to the time that the movie takes place, and many viewers have agreed that the behavior of the workers towards the patients is also accurate.

However, the real issue lies with Susanna’s diagnosis. While it certainly wasn’t uncommon for women to be inaccurately diagnosed during those times, Susanna’s BPD is minimal. Girl, Interrupted only highlights very specific aspects of BPD, such as being hypersexual, and Susanna doesn’t tick off many other boxes. Once Susanna is in the facility, her BPD becomes less apparent for no clear reason. Many viewers think the other characters in Girl, Interrupted are good representations, but it’s a shame that Susanna doesn’t quite match them.

20

Iron Man 3 Didn’t Go Far Enough With Its Depiction of PTSD

Tony Stark’s PTSD Goes Away When It Is No Longer Convenient for the Plot

Iron Man 3 takes a surprising look at Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) struggles to return to regular life after a harrowing experience fighting aliens during the events of The Avengers. Having come only moments away from death, Tony finds himself more vulnerable to panic attacks which stunt his ability to continue protecting the world as Iron Man. To make matters worse, he finds himself facing one of his most difficult challenges yet when a terrorist known as the Mandarin begins threatening the United States.

Although Iron Man 3 was highly successful and is often praised as a surprisingly good representation of PTSD, it falls short in one major area. After the events of the film, Tony’s PTSD is rarely addressed again, seemingly disappearing overnight. His future appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe do not depict or even hint at Tony’s continuing struggles. This unfortunately suggests that Tony’s PTSD storyline was dropped when it was no longer convenient for the blockbuster Marvel franchise. The MCU had a chance to do something truly unique and interesting in its depiction of PTSD but missed its opportunity.

19

Music Is Terrible for Many Reasons

This Movie Never Should’ve Been Cleared

The singer-songwriter Sia tried her hand at making a movie called Music. The movie is about a young girl, Music, who has autism. While Sia perhaps had good intentions about this movie and tried to make some kind of attempt at portraying autism, it’s a horrifically done movie. Many viewers and critics thought it would have been best for Sia to cast a person with autism as Music. However, Sia thought that it was more important to cast a dancer for the role, Maddie Ziegler.

Maddie’s performance is downright offensive, plain and simple. Music is every harmful stereotype and caricature of a person with autism all crammed into one film. Instead of really focusing on Music, the movie focuses on Music’s older sister, Kazu, who can barely deal with Music. Sia doesn’t stop at autism, either. This movie also has some terrible racist and homophobic quips as well. Music is shocking to watch, and it’s a wonder why Sia didn’t even get as much flak as she deserved for making this movie.

18

Sucker Punch Is Exciting But Upsetting

Sucker Punch’s Ending Ruins the Movie

Sucker Punch is like watching a live-action anime. Its CGI, fight sequences, and killer soundtrack make it a memorable movie. The plot is a little convoluted and, at times, hard to follow because it jumps between the real world and then a sensationalized version of the world. Babydoll is the main protagonist of this movie, and she lands in an asylum after accidentally killing her sister while trying to defend her from their stepfather.

Baby suffers from severe depression and PTSD from the incident with her stepfather. Throughout the movie, Baby joins four other girls to escape the asylum. It seems like there might be a happy ending waiting for her — until Babydoll sacrifices herself to allow another girl, Sweet Pea, to escape. Then, at the end of the movie, Babydoll is lobotomized. The issue lies with the fact that Sucker Punch tries to paint Baby’s lobotomy as her “escape,” when it’s a terrible fate. Instead of Babydoll getting the opportunity to flourish and heal, the movie undoes its entire plot by using a barbaric method that was once a leading cause of many mental health tragedies.

17

Silver Linings Playbook Struggles to Represent BPD

Despite Its Failings, Silver Linings Playbook Is a Relatively Good Movie

Silver Linings Playbook has an outstanding cast featuring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro. The plot is centered around two characters — Patrizio Solitano Jr. and Tiffany Maxwell — struggling to overcome their battles with disorders that heavily impact their lives. Pat is recently released from a rehabilitation facility after a violent incident involving his ex-wife’s cheating. He has severe Bipolar Disorder and, trying to get on his feet again, he meets Tiffany.

While it’s not explicitly addressed, it’s heavily implied that Tiffany has Borderline Personality Disorder. While the movie is fun and showcases a sweet romance between Pat and Tiffany, Tiffany’s behavior is rather problematic. BPD is a very stigmatized disorder as it is, and having Tiffany play into the poor stereotypes of people suffering from BPD only casts worse light on real people with it. On top of that, the fact that the movie never directly addresses what Tiffany suffers from only adds to the poor directional choices for her character.

16

Suicide Squad Is a Mess of a Movie

DC Has Been Struggling With Many Adaptations of This Group

Aside from being a general flop despite its talented cast, Suicide Squad struggled to portray Harley Quinn in a manner that wasn’t offensive or downright goofy. While Harley Quinn as a DC character has been shown across many DC stories to have well-portrayed Stockholm Syndrome and other disorders, Suicide Squad fell flat. The movie plays up Harley’s psychosis and general mental state to make her seem “edgy” and intimidating.

Harley makes far too many early 2000s Hot Topic-style comments that make her look more goofy than anything. A famous line is when she makes a comment about “the voices” in her head. It’s a terrible portrayal of the character and mental health in general. Instead of her mental health being taken seriously, she’s pitted to be purely unpredictable and wild. While she is a dynamic character in the DCU, Suicide Squad reduces Harley Quinn to a caricature of poor mental health.

15

Split Demonizes Dissociative Identity Disorder

An Impressive Performance Doesn’t Hide the Misrepresentation of Mental Illness

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Split follows Kevin (James McAvoy), a man with dissociative identity disorder (DID) who abducts a group of young girls. Kevin has a total of 23 alters that interact with the girls, each displaying a varying level of cruelty. Split’s plot hinges on Kevin’s most dangerous host identity, “The Beast.” Unlike his other alternate identities, The Beast has superhuman strength and agility.

This portrayal of dissociative identity disorder is harmful because, as Split suggests, those with DID are violent and dangerous. In reality, DID results in memory loss, delusions, or depression. While occasionally those suffering from DID may be violent, the violence is a result of overwhelming symptoms rather than an individual personality. Moreover, the introduction of “The Beast” in Split asserts that DID can be a sort of superpower, a common detrimental trope used in movies about those with mental health issues.

14

Joker Uses Mental Health Conditions to Justify Violence

A Sympathetic Character Suffering From Mental Illness Gets Turned Into a Villain

Although the DC Comics rogue is one of the most despicable and well-known villains in pop culture, the Joker didn’t get an on-screen origin story until 2019’s Joker. The movie tracks Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man whose neurological condition causes him to randomly laugh uncontrollably. This laughter comes out at inappropriate moments, leading society to ostracize Arthur for his irrepressible behavior. Additionally, Arthur has difficulty discerning fiction from reality, which results in him imagining an entire relationship with a neighbor that didn’t actually happen.

Joker depicts Arthur as a product of his uncaring environment. Many people bully and ridicule him throughout the film, which only worsens his mental health condition. As his mind degrades, he becomes villainous, dangerously violent, and eventually murderous. While the frequent torment Arthur undergoes is more than enough reason for his deteriorating mental health, the protagonist’s character arc in Joker perpetuates harmful stereotypes surrounding the supposed violent tendencies of those with mental health illnesses.

13

The Visit Gets Mental Health Conditions Wrong

Perpetuating Negative Stereotypes for Scares Is the Real Horror of The Visit

Another M. Night Shyamalan helmed picture, The Visit, also grapples with mental health issues. The movie opens with two children who visit their grandparents during a vacation. At their grandparents’ house, Becca and Tyler notice Nana and Pop-Pop are acting strangely, and the film’s twist exposes why. The Visit eventually reveals that Nana and Pop-Pop are patients who escaped from a nearby mental hospital where Becca and Tyler’s real grandparents worked, eventually killing them and assuming their identities.

While the movie never explicitly states it, the film hints that Nana and Pop-Pop live with either dementia or schizophrenia. But the symptoms these characters display are far from the reality of dementia (especially with “sundowning”) or schizophrenia, which is why many mental health experts have criticized The Visit. Unlike the film suggests, any aggression associated with dementia or schizophrenia is sporadic, not calculated. Furthermore, in both cases, it is unlikely for patients to be violent towards others, at all.

12

A Beautiful Mind Exaggerates the Benefit of Being a Savant

This Film Misrepresents Nobel Laureate John Nash’s Experience for Entertainment

Based on a real story about John Nash, A Beautiful Mind depicts John’s life from his time as a graduate student through his work in cryptography and his eventual receipt of a Nobel Prize. Starring the talented Russel Crowe, this film dives into John’s paranoia as he becomes increasingly involved in decrypting encrypted telecommunications. Eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, John alienates his wife and baby as he struggles with determining what is real.

While showing the negative symptoms of schizophrenia is important, the mental illness is exaggerated in the film. For example, in A Beautiful Mind, visual hallucinations are one of John’s primary symptoms, whereas the real John Nash never had visual hallucinations. Additionally, John ignores his doctor’s advice to receive therapy and medication at the end of the film. He instead manages his symptoms purely through his own belief in himself and through the support of his wife. This significantly oversimplifies the treatment process for this serious mental illness.

11

The Accountant Assumes Action Overcomes the Struggle of Autism

The Accountant Ignores the Challenges of Autism in Favor of Flashy Sequences

In The Accountant, Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, an autistic man and mathematics savant who leads a double life as a freelance accountant for criminals. The film depicts the difficulties of managing Christian’s condition as a child, which ultimately resulted in his mother abandoning his family. His father then trains him and his brother in martial arts while simultaneously training Christian not to react to loud sounds and other stimuli.

The assertion that repeatedly exposing someone with autism to overwhelming stimuli to inure them to the noise is not only incorrect but is actively harmful to those undergoing the process. Rather than acclimating the patient to overwhelming situations, such an act is instead instilling a trained traumatic response of stillness. Furthermore, Christian’s job as a genius mathematician in The Accountant reinforces the stereotype that those on the autism spectrum innately excel at a specific subject when, in fact, only a small percentage of patients with autism have savant skills.