Psychological drama

Psychological drama, or psychodrama,^[1] is a subgenre of drama and psychological elements, generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other characters within the narrative, which is highlighted in a dramatic work.^[2][3]

Discussion of the subgenre[edit]

Characteristics[edit]

Similar with these psychological genres, but rather than using imagery to provoke fear, suspense or terror, they utilize dramatic settings to elicit a strong, emotional value from audiences. Psychological dramas commonly deal directly with the psychological state and mental health, emphasize on emotional conflicts and often serve as a portrait of introspective personal struggle.^[3]

It can be also characterized as primary character-driven, in which attention will be particularly paid to the psychology of the characters, to their intimate problems more than to the storyline context.^[4] The characters are confronted with doubts, dilemmas or inner personality conflicts. The challenges they encounter will often force them to react, making them go through a whole psychological process during the film, even a metamorphosis.^[5]

Related with genres[edit]

It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, dark comedy, mystery and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychological horror and psychological thriller genres. Psychological dramas use these genres' tropes to focus on the human condition and psychological effects, usually in a mature and serious tone, nearly similar to melodrama.

The difference between "drama" and "psychological drama" is that in the latter scenario, the focus is more on the psychological character of the characters and on existentialism in general, and not on the context of the narrative itself. So, the end is not necessarily tragic: the main character can doubt himself and sometimes overcome his intimate problems. Psychological drama can be very clearly distinguished from dramedy, as there is no to minimal humor in it but since the subgenre is rather devoid of humor.

Themes[edit]

Psychological dramas also explore thematic elements include: denialism, depression, disability, distorted sequences, dysfunctional relationships, existential crisis, human sexuality, identity crisis, mass hysteria, mental disorders, mood swings, odd behaviors, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological abuse, psychedelic art, social issues, and psychological trauma.^[6]

Examples[edit]

Films[edit]

Early examples[edit]

Psychological drama is possibly known one of the fewest and oldest of film subgenres in the early-20th century, with the earliest examples are The Whispering Chorus (1918)^[7][8] and Greed (1924).^[9][10] Other early examples of popular psychological drama films in the early-to-mid 20th century include:

• La vuelta al nido (1938)^[11]
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)^[12]
• Death of a Salesman (1951)^[13]
• Johnny Belinda (1948)^[14]
• A Place in the Sun (1951)^[15]
• The Snake Pit (1948)^[16]
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)^[17]
• Drunken Angel (1948)^[18]

Modern examples[edit]

• 1960s - Lolita (1962),^[19] The Swimmer (1968)^[20]
• 1970s - Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972),^[21] One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975),^[22] Taxi Driver (1976),^[23] Equus (1977)^[24]
• 1980s - Ordinary People,^[25] The Ninth Configuration (both 1980),^[26] Pink Floyd - The Wall,^[27][28] Sophie's Choice (both 1982),^[29][30] Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)^[31]
• 1990s - Heavenly Creatures (1994),^[32][33] Shine (1996),^[34] Good Will Hunting (1997),^[35] The Truman Show (1998),^[36] Eyes Wide Shut,^[37][38] Fight Club (both 1999)^[39]
• 2000s - The Hours (2002),^[40] Elephant,^[29][41] Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Little Children (2006),^[29][42] Funny People (2009)^[43]
• 2010s - Himizu,^[44] Shame,^[45] Sucker Punch (all three in 2011),^[46] Aparisyon, Jagten (both 2012),^[47][48] Whiplash,^[49][29] (both 2014), All I See Is You (2016)^[50]
• 2020s - The Father (2020)^[51] Bo Burnham: Inside, The Power of the Dog (both 2021),^[52][53][54]

Television[edit]

• The Affair^[55]
• Bates Motel^[56]
• Beef^[57]
• Criminal^[58]
• The Cry^[59]
• A Death in California^[60]
• The Handmaid's Tale^[61]
• Maniac^[62]
• Ray Donovan^[63]
• This Is Us^[61]
• Yellowjackets^[64]

Animated series[edit]

Animated series are examples of this subgenre only focuses on characters' experience with mental health and psychological trauma; these included Bojack Horseman,^[65] Morel Orel, and Steven Universe Future.^[66][67]

Japanese filmmaker and animator Hideaki Anno created Neon Genesis Evangelion is also the most notorious example of the subgenre, delves into heavy psychological elements in its latter half.^[68][69] Additionally, some anime series portrayed in psychological elements including Akagi^[70], The Flowers of Evil^[71], The Fruit of Grisaia^[72], Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai^[73], Scum's Wish^[74][75], The Tatami Galaxy^[76], Welcome to the N.H.K.^[77], and Wonder Egg Priority^[78].

Animated films[edit]

A Silent Voice^[79], It's Such a Beautiful Day, Inside Out (and its sequel), Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and When Marnie Was There^[80] are among the examples of animated films used in the subgenre, usually having the characters' portrayal dealt with several themes such as anxiety attack and fear of abandonment and death.

Literature[edit]

• Chicago, Yumi Tamura (2000)^[81]
• The Winter Wives, Linden MacIntyre (2021)^[82][83]
• Saint X, Joe Otterson (2022)^[84]
• Trish, James C. Bennett (2022)^[85]
• Final Psychodrama, Davide Roccamo (2020)^[86]

Theater[edit]

• The Chinese Lady, Lloyd Suh (2021)^[87]

Known filmmakers[edit]

• Paul Thomas Anderson - An American filmmaker known for his depictions of flawed characters and exploration of subjects and themes such as dysfunctional families, alienation, loneliness and redemption. Known psychological dramas of his include Magnolia (1999), There Will Be Blood (2007),^[88] and The Master (2012).^[89]
• Darren Aronofsky - An American filmmaker, well known for directing some of the most notoriously visceral psychological dramas in the 21st century, such as the cult classic film, Requiem for a Dream (2000),^[90] and others that subjects of actor's career resurgence and deal with melodramatic themes and surrealism in films such as The Wrestler (2008), Black Swan (2010), Mother! (2017), and The Whale (2022).^[91][92]
• Ingmar Bergman - A Swedish filmmaker, regarded by many as one of the greatest directors in European cinema, who applied his creative and avant-garde vision^[93] to psychological drama films such as Persona (1966).^[94]
• Bernardo Bertolucci - An Italian filmmaker, who is known for exploring "sexual relations among characters stuck in a psychological crisis" such as in his erotic film Last Tango in Paris (1972).^[95]
• Sofia Coppola - An American filmmaker, daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, known for psychological drama films such as The Virgin Suicides (1999)^[96] and Lost in Translation (2003).^[97]
• Adam Elliot - An Australian stop-motion animator known of clayography works focused on psychological elements with bitterness and human conditions. His films included Harvie Krumpet (2003),^[98][99] Mary and Max (2009),^[100][101] and Memoir of a Snail (2024).
• Alejandro González Iñárritu - A Mexican filmmaker who has directed numerous films that focus on aspects of the human condition, notably The Death trilogy; Amores perros (2000), 21 Grams (2003) and Babel (2006) as well as his fourth feature, Biutiful (2010).^[102]
• Charlie Kaufman - An American director and screenwriter, whose work explores universal themes like identity crisis, mortality, and the meaning of life through a metaphysical or parapsychological framework, as shown in films like his directorial works, Synecdoche, New York (2008) and Anomalisa (2015).^[103][104]
• Krzysztof Kieślowski - A Polish filmmaker, known for his psychological drama films such as the Three Colours trilogy.^[105]
• Akira Kurosawa - A Japanese filmmaker, considered among the greatest directors of all time, who directed psychological dramas such as Drunken Angel (1948)^[106][107] and Ikiru (1952).^[108]
• Yorgos Lanthimos - A Greek filmmaker known for his themes about absurdity, animal cruelty, odd behaviors, dark humors, and unrequited relationships.^[109]
• Tom McCarthy - An American filmmaker and actor, well known for his critically acclaimed independent films The Station Agent (2003) and The Visitor (2007).^[110]
• Brillante Mendoza - A Filipino filmmaker, known for his independent psychological drama films like The Masseur (2005) and Captive (2012).^[111]
• Gaspar Noé - An Argentine avant-garde filmmaker shares an attenuated use of narrative, generally assaulting and often illegible cinematography, confrontational subject material, a treatment of sexual behavior as violent rather than mutually intimate, and a pervasive sense of social nihilism or despair, with such his polarizing feature films as I Stand Alone (1998), Irréversible (2002), 8 (2008), Enter the Void (2009), and Vortex (2021).^{[112][113][114][115]}
• Steven Soderbergh - An American filmmaker, well known for his independent films featuring explorations of the human condition, such as in his critically acclaimed debut Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989).^[116]
• Andrei Tarkovsky - A Soviet and Russian filmmaker, known for his philosophical and psychological movies dealing with existence, faith and dreamlike memories, such as Solaris (1972), Mirror (1975) and Stalker (1979).^[117]
• Denis Villeneuve - A French Canadian filmmaker, primarily known for directing drama and science fiction films featuring psychological elements^[118] such as Maelström (2000),^[119] Enemy (2013),^[120] and Arrival (2016).^[121]
• Lars von Trier - A Danish artistic filmmaker known for his works with a confrontational examination of issues and controversial subject matters such as Europa (1991), Riget (1994-2022), Breaking the Waves (1996), Antichrist (2009), and Melancholia (2011).^{[122][123][124]}

See also[edit]

• Social thriller
• Tragedy
• Courtroom drama
• Postmodernist film
• Social issues

References[edit]