Neuroscience on the Big Screen

There are many films where memory, emotions, behavior, or perception are featured as main topics. If you haven’t had the chance to watch them, here is a curated list by our undergraduate volunteer Khrystyna Bila of a few movies to watch on a cozy weekend evening! 

1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest features a depiction of a medical institutionalization approach to psychiatric disorders. The movie helps us recognize our shortcomings and failures throughout the history of psychiatry. It also helps us recognize how far we have come to improve care and treatment of mental illness.  

2. Shutter Island

Shutter Island is another great movie anchored in mental health themes. Without giving any spoilers, the plot integrates aspects of memory suppression, trauma, and perception. It is a psychologically-intense movie with an unexpected turn of events that can make you question everything you saw! 

3. Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon raises difficult questions about how we think about ‘disability’. The main character living with a disease called Phenylketonuria that causes severe intellectual disability. He is offered a treatment to ‘rebuild’ his brain. This movie gives a portrayal of a cognitive decline, the potential harms of experimentation to ‘treat’ disability, and the impact on emotional well-being. 

4. Memento

Memento features a well-known experience—forgetfulness. In this case, a main character with anterograde amnesia tries to find the person who killed his wife. This movie shows how external cues help people with memory impairment navigate their life and shows how important memory function in our brain is. 

5. It’s Kind of a Funny Story

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a comedy that balances light-heartedness with deep conversations on anxiety, depression, and mental health treatment. It depicts the story of an adolescent in a mental institution and shows how teenagers and adults deal with big emotions and impairing thoughts. The film highlights the powerful role of social support for building resilience in the face of adversity.

Neuroscience Beyond the Classroom

Neuroscience is not limited to textbooks and lectures. Film allows us to visualize complex brain processes and better understand mental health, memory, and behavior. These movies remind us that science and storytelling can work together to deepen our understanding of the human mind and hopefully build empathy for the unique experiences we are all facing day-to-day.

The Greenhouse of the Mind:

Resources to Help You Bloom

Help Support Science Content & Communication

Our team is so excited to get the word out to the people we serve and inform for FREE … and your support will allow us to put more resources and energy into doing precisely that.

Your donations help fund the creation of content that translates our research into practice.

Consider supporting our outreach efforts:

Stay Resilient!