Category Archives: Psychiatrists

1980, Amazon Prime, Kanopy streaming, Nudity, Psychiatrists, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes

Dressed to Kill (1980)

From IMDB:

A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist’s patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.

From Kanopy or Amazon Prime you can stream this 43 year old film starring Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson.

While watching this vintage film, I was struck by how young the actors were,  how sexually daring this film must have seemed way back then, how acting has changed, and what a good story and plot shock the film still provides.

Give this piece of film history a try.

2011, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action sequences, Ageing parent, Amazon Prime Brit Box, Based on a Book, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, British Mystery Series, British Police, Car Chase, Career Criminal, Clever Plot, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corrupt policemen, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, Crime thriller, Death of a child, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Fight Scenes, Flirting, Forensics, Gambling, Grim, Grisly, Gritty, Hopeless Love, Human trafficking, Infuriating, Lawyers, Love Story, Mourning, Murder, Murder Trial, Pedophilia, Plot twists, Poker, Police Corruption, Police Culture, Possibly upsetting ending, Psychiatrists, Romance, Sad ending, Single Mother, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Trial Scenes, Upsetting ending, Violent

DCI Banks (2011)

From IMDB:

The tenacious and stubborn DCI Banks unravels disturbing murder mysteries aided by his young assistants, DS Annie Cabbot and DI Helen Morton.

From Amazon Prime Brit Box (or just independently Brit Box) you can stream 5 seasons of this outstandingly tense British crime series. Almost all complete stories require two consecutive episodes.  All seasons contain 6 episodes (i.e 3 stories) where each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Season 1 contains 7 episodes because the first episode is the pilot called “Aftermath”. PLEASE DO NOT WATCH this episode because it is so ugly that you might not want to watch the rest of the series. Indeed the crimes in all the stories are disturbing but season 1 episode 1 is especially nasty.

Detectives Alan Banks, Annie Cabbot, and Helen Morton are  present throughout.  Alan falls in love with Annie and a constant theme is whether they will ever get together. Alan’s father is always an annoyance. Shaun Dooley plays a wonderfully infuriating evil criminal Steve Richards.

Kathy and I eagerly ploughed through all 30 episodes, exclaiming after each story “Wow!”  In fact in one sitting we always watched two episodes making one complete story.

DO NOT MISS!

2022, Abduction, Anxiety Attacks, Arson, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Boating, Cocaine, Contract Killing, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark family secrets, Detective, Dishonest father, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drama, Drug Dealers, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Frame someone for a crime, Hopeless Love, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Motorcycles, Murder, Murder Investigation, Prison, Psychiatrists, Revenge, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish Crime Thriller, Violent

Gasmaman (2022)

From MHz Choice:

Alexandra Rapaport stars as a suburban mom pulled into the criminal underworld to pay off her murdered husband’s debts.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 8 episodes of Season 1. Each episode lasts about 44 minutes.

Sonja Ek and her husband Fredrik have three children Nina, Gustav and Linus.  Sonja’s brother is Niklas.  Fredrik, Niklas, and their associate Stein have stolen cocaine from a crime boss. Because Fredrik has hidden the cocaine and then been shot dead, the  other two cronies cannot return the cocaine to the crime boss. Sonja is now burdened with appeasing the crime boss. Sonja’s father is also corrupt, which only makes her life more difficult.

There is not a single relaxing moment in this tense Swedish crime drama.  Expect lots of violence. DO NOT MISS!

 

2012, Acceptable for teenagers, Alcoholism, Ambitious Dirty Tricks, Anxiety Attacks, Brother-Sister relations, Career Competition, Character Driven, Corruption, Could Be Sad, Cover-up, Danish, Danish Politics, Danish TV series, Depression, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Embezzlement, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Husband leaves wife, Love Story, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Newspaper Culture, NOT violent, Personal Betrayal, Political Intrigue, Politicians, Psychiatrists, Revenge, Romance, Thought provoking, TV Culture, TV news industry, TV Reporter, Well developed plot, Womanizing

Borgen (2012)

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From IMDB:

A political drama about a prime minister’s rise to power, and how power changes a prime minister.

From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons of this Danish political drama series. Each season consists of 10 one-hour episodes.  Recent news hints that there might someday be a fourth season. Danish with English subtitles.

In Danish, Borgen, lit. ’The Castle’, is the informal name of Christiansborg Palace where all three branches of Danish government reside: the Parliament, the Prime Minister’s Office, and the Supreme Court, and is often used as a figure of speech for the Danish government.

In the very first episode we see  Birgitte Nyborg become Prime Minister of Denmark.  This first episode is OK but does not begin to compare with the gut-punching episodes that follow.  Can a woman “have it all” is one of the issues.  Birgitte comes off as a morally upright and  sincere woman steering her way through the compromising pressures of political life.   She will pay a personal price for her success.

Surrounding Birgitte are a multitude of characters meaningful to the plot,  some praiseworthy and quite a few sneaky , malicious,  ambitious “villains.”  Quite a few of those characters are members of the news media.  All these many characters are involved throughout the series and often have their own personal stories to tell.

Each episode usually centers around a theme:  health care, peace negotiations,  and many others.  Don’t expect each episode to have a happy ending.  After most episodes Kathy and I exclaim “WOW, how do the writers maintain such consistent excellence?”

DO NOT MISS!

2021, Acceptable for teenagers, Addiction, Attempted Suicide, British, Clever Plot, Divorced Mother, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Gay theme, Jealousy, Love Triangle, Melodrama, Mental Illness, Murder, Mystery Film, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Paranormal theme, Plot Twist, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Surprise Ending, Suspense, Thriller, Unhappy Marriage, Unusual

Behind Her Eyes (2021)

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From Netflix:

A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife.

From Netflix you can stream the 6 episodes of this British romantic thriller. Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

Louise is a divorced mother with one child Adam.  David, a psychiatrist, is Louise’s boss and Adele’s husband. Adele is a mysterious  childless stay-at-home housewife.  David and Adele are not happily married. But their relationship is more ominous rather than merely not getting along. David and Louise are having a difficult affair, not the least because Louise has befriended Adele.  Rob is a gay young man who has become Adele’s best friend after Rob and Adele met during their mutual confinement in a mental institution.

If you are not yet intrigued, then throw in a paranormal element (which perfectly suits the plot and is not the least bit hokey) and lots of sex scenes.  Finally, this story has one of the best surprise endings I have ever seen.

If this last paragraph appeals to you, then DO NOT MISS!

2014, Acceptable Trash, Accidental Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease, Amazon Prime, Arson, Art Marketing, Autism, Binge worthy, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Cancer theme, Cooking and food, Corny at times, Corrupt Prison Guards, Courtroom scenes, Depression, Detective, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Fishing, Flashbacks, Flirting, Friendship, Gay theme, Happy Family Gatherings, Husband leaves wife, Illegitimate Child, Incompetent or unfit mother, Lawyers, Longsuffering wife, Love Story, Love Triangle, Marital Infidelity, Medical Theme, Mental Illness, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Murder Trial, Narcissist, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Prison, Psychiatrists, Romance, Small Town, Small Town Atmosphere, Soap Opera, Suicide, Surfing, Unhappy Marriage, Unmarried mother, Weird California Cultures, Wife leaves husband, Womanizing

The Affair (2014)

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From IMDB:

A struggling novelist and a young waitress strike up an extramarital relationship that promises to forever change the course of their lives.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this steamy romance and crime series. Each episode is just under 1 hour.

UPDATE:  Now from Amazon Prime you can stream 5 seasons of the soap opera that never ends. Season 2 has 12 episodes. Season 5 has 11 episodes. Seasons 1,3, and 4 have 10 episodes. Each episode is still about one hour.  That gives us a total of 53 hours of soap opera escape.

Nothing is perfect. Some portions are downright corny.  There is a strange interruption in plot when Noah seems to be having a series of psychotic episodes.  Did the writers forget to finish that part of the story?   Sometimes present events plus flashbacks from the past might seem somewhat confusing.

Toward the end I watched slowly because I did not want the story to end.  If a LOOOONG soap opera with a fair number of sometimes explicit sex scenes is your thing, DO NOT MISS!

Original review:

Noah Solloway is played by Dominic West,  the British actor with a long acting resumé. At the time of filming he was 45 years old.

Alison Bailey is played by Ruth Wilson, the British actress whose own resumé is just as long even though she was only 32 years old at the time of filming.  Her role as the sociopath “Alice Morgan” in the TV series “Luther” was chillingly unforgettable.

Alison’s marriage is failing while she and her husband morn the death of their young son.  Noah is having trouble writing his second novel and is trying desperately to be faithful to his wife even though he is immediately attracted to Alison.

Along the way there is a death that is being investigated  by Detective Jeffries.

As soap operas go, this one is not too bad.

2018, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Addiction, Adultery, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Bullying, Conspiracy, Controlling personality, Corny, Corruption, Cult Brainwashing, Detective, Drugs, Dysfunctional Lives, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Emotional abuse, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Frame someone for a crime, French, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Imperfect, Improbable details, Jealousy, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Often downright silly, Outrageous Behavior, Police Corruption, Prison, Problematic Ending, Psychiatrists, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Romance, Sex Offender, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Predator, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unjust crime conviction, Violent

The Break (2018)

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From Netflix:

Soon after arriving in Heiderfeld, inspector Yoann Peeters is called to the scene of a suspected suicide and begins uncovering troubling details

From Netflix you can stream the 10 episodes of Season 2 of this French (English subtitles) crime soap-opera.  Each episode lasts about 50 minutes.

SECOND REVIEW: Please note that there is already a review for Season 1 which is dated 2016.  To appreciate Season 2 you should first watch Season 1.  My review for Season 1 raves positively and might now be taken with a grain of salt.  It is still true that I was so taken with the plot, characters, and mystery that I once again binged on the series. However, this time let me be a bit more critical.

For adjectives describing this strange-fest consider: exaggerated, corny, repetitive, histrionic,  improbable, riddled with inconsistencies,  and ending in a questionable conclusion.  How’s that for damning with praise?

So what is so watch-worthy?  For one thing the cast consists of some of the more peculiar non-Hollywood characters I have ever seen.  All names hereafter are the character names because it is unlikely that any of the French and Dutch actors will be familiar.  Dany Bastin is the center of attention as the accused.  He is a skinny young man whose entire body is marked by a severe case of psoriasis.  When was the last time you saw an actor with truly repellent skin? He, his brother Christian, his brother’s wife Zoe, and his mother all seem to be underfed, sub-intelligent, unattractive, poverty-stricken  members of some lower order of humans.  Astrid du Tilleul is the wealthy, nasty, dissolute, drug addict murder victim. Her jealous sister Astrid and Astrid’s husband are the oddest looking pair of scheming and murderous morons to hit the screen.  Even dumber are some of the police officers.  At least one officer, Marjorie, is, however,  honest despite her physical unattractiveness.  Not so honest is her partner.

On and on and on goes the series. Yet somehow I was eagerly drawn to each episode (like a moth to a burning candle?)  If my description has not yet turned you away from this mess,  just have fun watching the exaggerated set of unlikely events.  You won’t know “who done it” until the very end.

2017, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Acceptable Trash, Action Hero, Action sequences, B-movie, Binge worthy, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Bromance, Brother-Brother relations, Chase film, Complicated, Contract Killing, Corruption, Cover-up, Death penalty debate, Detective, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Happy ending, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Marital Infidelity, Mediocre, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Psychiatrists, Psychopath, Torture, Violent

Somewhere Between (2017)

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From IMDB:

A local news producer is given one chance to relive a deadly week and stop a serial killer. If she fails, she’ll lose her daughter forever.

From Netflix:

While investigating a serial killer, strange coincidences begin to pile up around news producer Laura. Suddenly, her daughter disappears.

From Netflix you can stream 8 episodes of this TV thriller. Each episode lasts about 43 minutes.

Give this production B or, if you are feeling generous, B+.  Why the negativity on my part?  Don’t misunderstand me, I binged from one suspenseful episode to the next. But in order to let the good guys win and the bad guys lose, this plot will supply as many implausible or impossible details as it takes to succeed.  As an example,  in one comical device that is used several times, our heroes are submerged in water and can hold their breath for practically an entire episode. Perhaps I exaggerate, but you get the idea.

If any of the actors managed to steal the show, it was the 8 year old Serena (played to smart aleck perfection by Aria Birch) who plays the daughter of the news producer Laura Price.

At least a whole raft of unknown actors got a chance to perform.

Rest assured, after watching all the bad guys come to their well earned demise,  you can enjoy a happy sappy ending.

2010, Abduction, Action sequences, British, British Mystery Series, Brother-Brother relations, Brother-Sister relations, Conspiracy, Corny at times, Corrupt Prison Guards, Drugs, Eccentric cast of characters, Eccentric Detective, Fist Fight, Mental Illness, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Outrageous Behavior, Psychiatrists, Psychopath, Revenge, Sadism, Suspense, Unbelievably smart detective, Unusual, Violent

Sherlock (2010)

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From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons of Sherlock Holmes stories. Seasons 1,2, and 4 have 3 episodes. Season 3 has 4 episodes. Each episode lasts 88 or 89 minutes.

Because there have been so many presentations involving the famous British detective, let’s be clear: In this series four of the many actors are:

Adjectives that describe this particularly imaginative adaptation are: eccentric, exaggerated, implausible, sometimes repellent.

Much of the time Sherlock indulges himself by  showing off his brilliant deductive genius.  At other times he is busy confusing his poor companion  Dr. Watson.  When he is bored he uses cocaine.

Toward the end of the seasons, especially in season 4, the plot devices are just plain over the top and unbelievable.  Also there is a lot of sadistic cruelty on the part of the last villainess, which repelled me.

If nothing else, these episodes are certainly not dull. Hang on tight!

2015, Abduction, Binge worthy, Bloody scenes, Cancer theme, Cannibalism, Cooking and food, Could Be Hard To Watch, Creepy, Dark, Detective, Eccentric cast of characters, FBI, Fist Fight, Forensic pathologist, Forensics, Frame someone for a crime, Gory, Grim, Grisly, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Panic Attacks, Psychiatrists, Psychological Thriller, Psychopath, Serial Killer, Suspense, Troubled Personality, Unusual, Violent, Wrongful Arrest

Hannibal (2015)

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From IMDB:

Explores the early relationship between renowned psychiatrist, Hannibal Lecter, and his patient, a young FBI criminal profiler, who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.

From Netflix you can stream 3 seasons of this creepy TV series. Each season contains 13 episodes. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

If you are searching for an example of GRIM entertainment, if that is what you can call entertainment, then you have found the very definition of GRIM. We all know  Hannibal Lector as the infamous serial killer who eats the more interesting parts of his victims. What is eerie to watch is seeing Hannibal portrayed as a smooth, calm, stylish psychiatrist who is a fastidious gourmet cook taking great pains to prepare exquisite “organic” (get it? heh, heh) meals for his unsuspecting guests, including the very detectives searching for the serial killer.

Add to the mix  poor hapless Will Graham who regularly, after seeing the current butchered victim ( le corps du jour) ,  goes into a trance and visualizes some part of the murderous attack.  Will has been driven into a damaged mental state by the ambitious chief detective Jack Crawford. As a result Will spends the major part of Season 2 as a prisoner-patient at a Baltimore asylum for the criminally insane. Dr. Lector, a former sugeon, has his own psychiatrist Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier. Did you get that? Dr. DuMaurier treats Dr. Lector who treats Will Graham. Talk about convoluted!

There is an awful lot of psycho-babble that seems to occupy more than its fair share of the script. However, the sinister plot, including Lector’s clever methods for diverting suspicion from himself, is clever and suspenseful enough to warrant watching.

Some of the actors are well-known:

  • Hannibal Lector is played by Mads Mikkelsen who is now one of Denmark’s biggest movie actors.
  • Jack Crawford is played by Laurence Fishburne.
  • Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier is played by Gillian Anderson of The X Files fame. When she played in “The X Files” she was only 30 years old. In “Hannibal” she is a stunningly beautiful woman of 47 years.

Just one example of the many gory murders might convince you to avoid watching: Hannibal freezes a woman’s body and then uses a band saw to slice the body in 5 vertical cross sections, each section being then laminated in a plastic coating.

If by now you have not been dissuaded, then go ahead and watch the gore festival.