''Freud's Last Session'' is a 2023

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film starring

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...

Matthew Goode Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is an English actor. He made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's television film '' Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy '' Chasing Liberty'' (2004), f ...

Liv Lisa Fries Liv Lisa Fries (born 31 October 1990 in Berlin) is a German actress who has appeared in several films and who gained an international following as the female lead Charlotte Ritter in the German TV series ''Babylon Berlin'', which first premiered ...

, Jodi Balfour,

Jeremy Northam Jeremy Philip Northam (born 1 December 1961) is an English actor. His film credits include '' The Net'' (1995), '' Emma'' (1996), '' An Ideal Husband'' (1999), '' Amistad'' (1997), ''The Winslow Boy'' (1999), ''Gosford Park'' (2001) and '' Eni ...

, and

Orla Brady Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. Brady has since appeared in many feature films and major television series, and was named in the 2020 list of Ireland's best film actors, publi ...

. 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 The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

on October 27, 2023.

Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloo ...

released the film in a limited release in the United States on 22 December 2023, before expanding wide on 19 January 2024 to mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

A fictional meeting occurs between

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...

, nicknamed "Jack", and

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

, two days after the start of World War II. They debate the

existence of God The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the exis ...

, as Freud greatly resents Lewis's recent rejection of his own strain of

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

in favour of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and many other subjects. The two men discuss issues such as Lewis's

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

as a

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

combat veteran,

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

and

the Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who prai ...

, and the nature of Freud's and Lewis's relationships with other people, such as Freud's daughter Anna, who is codependent upon her father. However, she eventually introduces her

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

lover,

Dorothy Burlingham Dorothy Trimble Tiffany Burlingham (11 October 1891 – 19 November 1979) was an American child psychoanalyst and educator. A lifelong friend and partner of Anna Freud, Burlingham is known for her joint work with Freud on the analysis of childr ...

, to him. At its close, the film records that Freud died by

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

several weeks later due to the intense pain from his

oral cancer Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless red or white patch, that thickens, gets ulcerated ...

; Lewis became a famous author of

Christian literature Christian literature is the literary aspect of Christian media, and it constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. History The Christian genre spans a variety of media and art forms that highlight Christian beliefs, narratives, and m ...

, and the children he took in as evacuees during the war inspired ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...

''; Anna and Dorothy lived together for decades, and Anna became known as the founder of

child psychology Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, ...

. The film notes that Freud met with an unidentified Oxford don in the last days of his life, who could possibly have been Lewis.

Cast

Anna Freud Anna Freud CBE ( ; ; 3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian Jewish descent. She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father a ...

* Jodi Balfour as

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

as Janie Moore

Production

WestEnd Films and CAA Media Finance took the project for sales to the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

in May 2022 with

cast, and Matthew Brown on board as director for the St. Germain adaptation. The film is produced by Alan Greisman, Rick Nicita, Meg Thomson and Hannah Leader, with production beginning in the U.K. in late January 2023. However, for financial reasons Freud’s

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

house and famous psychoanalyst couch were recreated in Dublin at the

Ardmore Studios Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, is Ireland's oldest film studio. It opened in 1958 under the management of Emmet Dalton and Louis Elliman. Since then, it has evolved through many managements and owners. It has been the base for man ...

. A selection of props from the film (particularly the replica couch and garden tent chair) have since May 2023 been housed at the Freud Museum London. Co-produced by Aoife O’Sullivan and Tristan Orpen Lynch of Subotica Operations, the film received UK Global Screen Fund International Co-production funding. An image from principal photography was released in April 2023 with the film entering the final stages of filming in Ireland.

Release

''Freud's Last Session'' premiered at the 2023

on October 27, 2023. That same month,

purchased the distribution rights for North America, the Middle East, India, Eastern Europe (excluding the CIS), and Turkey, as well as airlines worldwide; the company would subsequently extend its rights to Latin America and Asia excluding China, Japan and Korea. It had a limited release in the United States on 22 December 2023 and in United Kingdom on 14 June 2024.

Reception

Box office

''Freud's Last Session'' grossed $906,283 in the United States and Canada and $1.8 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $2.7 million.

Critical response

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freud's Last Session 2023 films American films based on plays American historical drama films British films based on plays British historical drama films Cultural depictions of Sigmund Freud Cultural depictions of C. S. Lewis Cultural depictions of J. R. R. Tolkien Films about Christianity Films about writers Films based on adaptations Films set in 1939 Films set in London Films set on the United Kingdom home front during World War II Films shot in Dublin (city) Films with atheism-related themes Sony Pictures Classics films