"Reel" Therapy

Feelings can be buried so deep they seem unreachable and being in an intimate relationship with a narcissist may have left you feeling emotionally numb.  Watching movies can trigger those locked away feelings we need to connect with and process in order to move forward in our recovery.

Watching relevant films may help you let yourself feel grief and other emotions again. The movies and series recommended here all have a character that appears to be a narcissist or have narcissistic traits.

Recommended movies and series with directors:

• American Beauty, 1999 (Sam Mendes)
• August: Osage County, 2013 ( John Wells)
• Baby Boom, 1987 (Charles Shyer)
• Beaches, 1988 (Gary Marshall)
• Beauty and the Beast, 1991 (Walt Disney Feature Animation)
• Because I Said So, 2007 (Michael Lehmann)
• Dear Zachary, 2008 (Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady)
• Dirty John, 2018 (Alexandra Cunningham)
• Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, 2002 (Callie Khouri)
• East Of Eden, 1955 (Elia Kazan)
• Emperor’s New Groove, 2000 (Walt Disney Feature Animation)
• Empire Falls, 2005 (Fred Schepis)
• Enough, 2002 (Michael Apted)
• Ever After - A Cinderella Story, 1998 (Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly)
• Fatal Attraction, 1987 (Adrian Lyne, James Dearden, Nicholas Meyer)
• Gaslight, 1944 (George Cukor, Patrick Hamilton)
• Georgia Rule, 2007 (Garry Marshall)
• Gia, 1998 (Michael LeRoy)
• Girl, Interrupted, 1999 (James Mangold)
• Gone Girl, 2014 (David Fincher, Gillian Flynn)
• Gypsy, 1962 (Mervyn LeRoy)
• Holy Hell, 2016 (William Francesco Allen)
• Intolerable Cruelty, 2003 ( Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
• The Joy Luck Club, 1993 (Wayne Wang)
• Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979 ( Robert Benton)
• Life or Something Like It, 2002 (Stephen Herek)
• The Little Foxes, 1941 (William Wyler)
• Matilda, 1996 (Danny DeVito )
• Mermaids, 1990 (Richard Benjamin)
• Miss Potter, 2006 (Chris Noonan)
• Mommie Dearest, 1981 (Frank Perry)
• Mona Lisa Smile, 2003 (Mike Newell)
• Monster in Law, 2005 ( Robert Luketic)
• The Mother, 2003 (Roger Michell)
• No Way Out But One, 2011 (Barry Nolan, Garland Waller)
• Ordinary People, 1980 (Robert Redford)
• The Other Sister, 1999 (Gary Marshall)
• The Perfect Man, 2005 (Mark Rosman)
• Pieces of April, 2003 (Peter Hedges)
• Post Cards from the Edge, 1990 (Mike Nichols)
• Precious, 2009 ( Lee Daniels)
• The Prince Of Tides, 1991 (Barbra Streisand)
• Prozac Nation, 2003 (Erik Skjoldbjaerg)
• Safe Haven, 2013 (David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos)
• The Secret Life of Bees, 2008 (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
• Silver Linings Playbook, 2012 (David O. Russell)
• Sleeping with the Enemy, 1991 (Joseph Ruben)
• Something to Talk About, 1995 (Lasse Hallstrom)
• A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 (Elia Kazan)
• Tangled, 2010 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
• Terms of Endearment, 1983 (James L. Brooks)
• The War of the Roses, 1989 (Danny DeVito)
• The Devil Wears Prada, 2006 (David Frankel)
• What Maisie Knew, 2012 (Scott McGehee, David Siegel)
• What's Love Got to Do with It, 1993 (Brian Gibson)
• White Oleander, 2002 (Peter Kosminsky)
• Young Adult, 2011 (Jason Reitman)