"Reel" Therapy Recommended by Dr. Karyl McBride

“Reel” Therapy Recommended by Dr. Karyl McBride.

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 to move forward in our recovery.

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

Recommended movies and series with directors:

• A Streetcar Named Desire, 1951 (Elia Kazan)
• Ángela, 2025 (Netflix; Norberto López Amado)
• 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)
• Ginny & Georgia, 2021 (Anya Adams, James Genn)
• Girl, Interrupted, 1999 (James Mangold)
• Gone Girl, 2014 (David Fincher, Gillian Flynn)
• Gypsy, 1962 (Mervyn LeRoy)
• Holy Hell, 2016 (William Francesco Allen)
• Hush, 1998 (Jonathan Darby)
• I, Tonya, 2017 (Craig Gillespie)
• Intolerable Cruelty, 2003 (Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
• Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979 (Robert Benton)
• Life or Something Like It, 2002 (Stephen Herek)
• Little Fires Everywhere, 2020 (Lynn Shelton)
• Matilda, 1996 (Danny DeVito)
• Mean Girls, 2024 (Mark Waters)
• 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)
• Murdaugh, Death in the Family, 2025 (Steven Piet)
• No Way Out but One, 2011 (Barry Nolan, Garland Waller)
• Ordinary People, 1980 (Robert Redford)
• Pieces of April, 2003 (Peter Hedges)
• Postcards from the Edge, 1990 (Mike Nichols)
• Precious, 2009 (Lee Daniels)
• Prozac Nation, 2003 (Erik Skjoldbjaerg)
• Rachel Getting Married, 2008, (Jonathan Demme)
• Rebecca, 2020 (Ben Wheatley)
• Safe Haven, 2013 (David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos)
• Silver Linings Playbook, 2012 (David O. Russell)
• Sleeping with the Enemy, 1991 (Joseph Ruben)
• Something to Talk About, 1995 (Lasse Hallstrom)
• Tangled, 2010 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
• Terms of Endearment, 1983 (James L. Brooks)
• The Devil Wears Prada, 2006 (David Frankel)
• The Gilmore Girls, 2000 (Daniel Palladino)
• The Joy Luck Club, 1993 (Wayne Wang)
• The Little Foxes, 1941 (William Wyler)
• The Mother, 2003 (Roger Michell)
• The Narcissists, 2017 (Quincy Rose)
• The Other Sister, 1999 (Gary Marshall)
• The Perfect Man, 2005 (Mark Rosman)
• The Prince of Tides, 1991 (Barbra Streisand)
• The Secret Life of Bees, 2008 (Gina Prince-Bythewood)
• The War of the Roses, 1989 (Danny DeVito)
• To Die For, 1995 (Gus Van Sant)
• Unknown Number, The Highschool Catfish, 2025 (Skye Borgman)
• 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)