Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted, directed by James Mangold, is based on the real life account of Susanna Kayser’s 18 month stay in a psychiatric hospital following a suicide attempt in the 1960’s. It is an incredible film, portraying many different mental health issues such as depression, OCD, anorexia and borderline personality disorder.

The film opens with Susanna, played by Winona Ryder, being checked into the psychiatric hospital, Claymoore, following a suicide attempt. One of the most prevalent things throughout the film and in this moment is Susanna’s denial of her suicide attempt. Although she ingests a lethal dosage of aspirin and follows it with a bottle of vodka, she consistently tells the people around her that she was merely ‘trying to get rid of a headache’ when in actuality her reasoning is much darker. This displays the denial that many people had at this time and still do today after a suicide attempt and displays the importance of seeking help after one of these incidences.

Once at Claymore, Susanna, although extremely antisocial and awkward, befriends many of the patients. One of her first friends is Polly Clark, played by Elisabeth Moss, a seemingly innocent schizophrenic burn victim whose trauma has enabled her to act in an extremely childish way for the entirety of the film. Her other friends are: Georgina Tuskin, played by Cleara DuVall, Susanna’s roommate who is a pathological liar, Daisy Random, played by Brittany Murphy, who has OCD, bulimia, and who frequently self harms, and Janet, played by Angela Bettis, a depressed and skeptic anorexic. Susanna then meets Lisa Rowe, played by Angelina Jolie, a sociopath who constantly escapes the institution.

Georgina tells Susanna that Lisa is very volatile and abusive and we see this from the very start of the film in the way that she treats Daisy. Susanna is in Daisy’s room when Lisa bursts in and immediately begins to belittle her. She exposes Daisy’s use of laxatives to Susanna and makes fun of her afterwards. Lisa then discovers dozens of chicken carcasses under Daisy’s bed, which she explains are from her father who sells poultry. Hiding food is a behaviour that is very common amongst people suffering with bulimia, and this moment provides an insight into just how severe the mental health issues that people were suffering with at Claymoore were.

We then see Susanna in her therapy sessions with Dr Potts, Jeffrey Tambor, these continue for a few weeks until she is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, characterised by unstable relations, extreme emotions, and volatile reactions. Susanna remains in denial about this for the majority of the film and constantly tells Dr Potts that she does not need to be in Claymoore and that she was merely sent there for a rest. Another symptom of borderline personally disorder is strong sexual urges and a constant need for sexual intimacy which is displayed throughout the film in a series of flashbacks. We see that she has had a relationship with a man she met in a bar, a college professor, and later, an orderly at the hospital.

After Lisa and Susanna are punished for falling asleep with an orderly and not spending the night in their rooms, they escape and run away to Daisy’s apartment that her father has bought her. They bribe her with valium so Daisy allows them to stay. This is when we get a proper insight into Lisa’s sociopathic nature. Although Daisy insists that she is doing well and no longer self harms, Lisa grabs her arm and reveals deep cuts down her arm; however instead of helping her, she makes fun of Daisy. Daisy, obviously upsets starts to climb up the stairs when Lisa says, in perhaps the most horrific moment of the film, that Daisy enjoys the sexual abuse that she suffers due to her father.

The next morning, it is shown that Daisy has committed suicide due to Lisa’s words. Susanna is horrified but Lisa shows neither shock nor remorse. Instead, she begins to search Daisy’s room and her body for any cash. This is when Susanna realises that she does not want to end up like Lisa and so she returns to Claymoore, and begins to co operate and work harder in therapy. Lisa is eventually caught and taken back to Claymoore where she bullies Susanna and chases her down a corridor where Susanna tells her that she is a cold, unemotional person. Lisa is so affected by this that she contemplates committing suicide. She is however dissuaded by the other patients and in the final moment of the film, we see Susanna and Lisa reconciling before Lisa is released.

This is a truly incredible film. It portrays mental health issues in such a real way without glamorising them which is something that a lot of films nowadays are guilty of doing. As this film, is based on the real life experience of Susanna Kayser, it provides an insight into how psychiatric wards were at this point and shows the huge improvements in terms of treatments that we have today. Between 1960 and 1980, the suicide rate per 100,000 in America was 19.9 per year for men and 6.5 per year for women. This statistic although shocking emphasises how many people, specifically men, feared seeking help, and as a result turned to suicide. Although this film was set 60 years ago, it is still important to watch as it helps to further remove stigmas around mental health whilst also avoiding glamorising them and trying to cover up some of the harsher symptoms. This film is definitely one that I would recommend and I think that it is so important to watch a film like this, that portrays mental health issues so effectively and also shows the importance in receiving help for these issues.

The only issue that I have with this film is that quite a lot of it is evidently dramatised. The only character that we actually see leave the hospital and seemingly doing okay is Susanna which makes the success rates of treatment not particularly high when in reality they were fairly effective even at this time. So if I could improve one thing in this film, I would definitely say that seeing how the characters were in a few years would definitely improve this already amazing film. It is also rather graphic at times, specifically regarding Daisy’s suicide and self-harm, but if this is not an issue for you or something that you do not mind watching then I would definitely recommend watching this film as it is excellent and one of my personal favourites.