Last Sunday I watched the Movie, Freud's Last Session in our Cinema. There were only three of us in the Cinema. I enjoyed the movie very much. The movie has mixed reviews and has a rating of 3 Star out of 5. The movie is not for everyone as the subject matter is Faith versus Atheism. It is a movie that is different from the standard Hollywood Block Busters, but to me it is entertaining and not a waste of my time. It is a story of human nature and theology that is well done and acted. Movies based on stage plays are normally not like, but this one is an exception. Here's one of the reviews that I agree 100%.
" In this day of action packed block busters from Hollywood, I'm impressed that this movie was even made. I think Hopkins, from what I know anyway, nails Freud in all his demanding, overbearing but witty and terrified (of the pain of cancer and his impending death) self. Goode does a great turn at portraying a relatively young Lewis. The film is not a white wash. Lewis, who penned the Chronicles of Narnia and Screw Tape Letters, is there with his rather problematic relationship with his war friend's mother is there. Freud's odd and challenging relationship with his daughter, Anna who was lesbian and a leading psychoanalyst herself, is front and center. But the questions of faith and atheism and the sometimes heated debate are so well done. But through it all there is a respect and a bit of affection between these two well known men. If you are not into the subject matter, watch something else. But otherwise this is a great film. The movie ends with my favorite quote from Freud, "From error to error, one discovers the entire truth." There has never been a greater quote about human nature and theology than that one! Here's the write-up from Wikipedia,
Freud's Last Session is a 2023 drama film starring Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries, Jodi Balfour, Jeremy Northam, and Orla Brady. It is based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, which itself is based upon the book The Question of God, by Armand Nicholi. The film was directed by Matthew Brown and written by St. Germain. Freud's Last Session premiered at the 2023 AFI Fest on October 27, 2023. Sony Pictures Classics released the film in the United States on 22 December 2023 to mixed reviews from critics.
A fictional meeting occurs between C. S. Lewis, nicknamed "Jack", and Sigmund Freud, two days after the start of World War II. A debate on the existence of God, as Freud greatly resents Lewis' recent rejection of his own strain of atheism in favour of Christianity, and many other subjects follows. The two men discuss issues such as Lewis' trauma as a World War I combat veteran, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, and the nature of Freud's and Lewis' relationships with other people, such as Freud's daughter Anna, who is pathologically dependent upon her father. However, she eventually introduces her lesbian partner, Dorothy Burlingham, to him.
Freud dies by suicide several weeks later due to the intense pain from his oral cancer. C.S. Lewis goes on to become a famous author of Christian literature, and the children he later takes in as evacuees during the war serve as inspiration for his Narnia series. Anna and Dorothy live together for decades, and Anna becomes known as the founder of child psychology. The film notes that Freud met with an unidentified Oxford don in the last days of Freud's life, who could possibly have been Lewis.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of 86 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode are a tremendously talented pair, but Freud's Last Session is too scattered and thinly written to take full advantage of their efforts." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Personal Note: If you are not into intellectual movies, this movie is not for You! It is a short movie, and it is worth your time. Again, I enjoyed the movie very much and I am giving it a rating of 3.5 out of 5.0
This is a film centered on conversations. If you don't enjoy intellectual conversation, this movie is not for you! For additional details read:
https://keithandthemovies.com/2024/01/10/review-freuds-last-session-2023/
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