CinemaPsych Podcast

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Shlomit Flaisher-Grinberg as they discuss the neuroscience behind Pixar's brilliant Ratatouille (2007), directed by Brad Bird and starring the voices of Patton Oswalt as Remy, Ian Holm as Skinner, Brad Garrett as Gusteau, Janeane Garofalo as Colette, Lou Romano as Linguini, and Peter O'Toole as Anton Ego. This lovely movie about following your dreams has a ton of psychological concepts hidden within, from the sensation and perception of food, how Remy controls Linguini, and how Rats just get a bad rap. Shlomit shares her experiences working with rats as a graduate student, postdoc, and university professor — perhaps she wouldn't want them in her kitchen, though (she says yes but backs off a bit!). Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Marc Klippenstine for a personalized discussion on birding, bird-watching, and psychology: The Big Year (2011). The film stars comedy powerhouses Jack Black, Steve Martin, and Owen Wilson, as three men who love birding so much, they all attempt the Audubon Society's "Big Year". Birding is a hobby that relies on bottom-up and top-down processing, cooperation, friendship, and a little bit of intrinsic motivation! But what happens when ambition gets in the way of personal relationships? This question and more are discussed in a wonderful chat about the portrayal of birding in this film from a birder himself! Can you spot all the birds in the film? Want to learn more about East Central University's Psychology Programs? Go here: https://www.ecok.edu/academics/colleges-and-schools/college-education-and-psychology/department-psychology Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and guest host Dr. T.R. Brooks as they discuss the intriguing and horrifying implications of a series of pandemics that rob people of their beloved senses in Perfect Sense (2011). The independent sleeper stars Ewan MacGregor, a chef, and Eva Green, an epidemiologist, who embark on a love story in the midst of these catastrophic events. While the doctors and scientists are trying to figure out a pattern to these illnesses that lead to mass sense loss, the chefs and the artists of the world try to cope and adapt. What would you do if all you could do was adapt to a sense that may never return? It is an intriguing question and Dr. Brooks attempts to share insights from the COVID-19 to ground the haunting premise in perceptual science. Good luck in this brand new world! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Melissa Maffeo as they discuss the hilarious memory mishaps in Adam Sandler's 50 First Dates, also starring Drew Barrymore, Sean Astin, and Dan Aykroyd. Barrymore plays a woman, Lucy, who had suffered brain trauma, and when she goes to sleep, her brain resets to that same day. Sandler's Henry Roth falls in love with her and wants to create a life with her, despite this very large limitation. Psychological concepts of memory, consolidation, learning, and consent are explored, even through all the hilarious moments that make most laugh out loud! There's a very real possibility that Lucy's brain is constantly blackout drunk! Check out the Neuroscience Teaching Conference, Summer 2025 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, at Wake Forest University! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and friend-of-the-show returning guest host Jason Spiegelman as they discuss the leadership and heist psychology of the remake Ocean's Eleven (2001), directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, and so many other amazing actors. The art of con, deception, and planning are central foci in the discussion, along with leadership styles and some fun trivia about the movie. They also invoke several comparisons of these same concepts and themes in the immediate sequel Ocean's Twelve (2004). This discussion is a steal! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex as he takes a solo look at a recent science fiction film featuring Casey Affleck and Laurence Fishburne, Slingshot (2024). The title refers to the maneuver three men — or is it only one? — must complete around Jupiter, using its gravity well to gain speed on the way to Saturn's moon, Titan. We also flashback to the time before, when Affleck's John is training to make this years-long flight, while makes an ill-fated connection with Zoe. We see John slowly lose his connection with reality on this spaceflight — is there precedent in real spaceflight for the psychological effects? Have a listen to find out! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Jill Swirsky as they enter the world of musical theater put to film in Robert Wise's wonderful adaptation of The Sound of Music (1965)! A musical about a man (played by Christopher Plummer) who treats his kids like sailors and woman (played by Julie Andrews) who just wants to sing with Nazism as a backdrop is a perfect exploration of psychology! From developmental theories, to grief and loss, to identity and relationships, this wonderful musical with amazing songs offers a great exploration of basic psychological concepts. This podcast episode is one of my favorite things! Read Dr. Swirsky's Psi Chi blog Psychology Pop Culture Corner contributions on more musicals! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Anthony Zoccolillo as they discuss both Twister (1996) and its remake/redo/spiritual sequel, Twisters (2024), under the guise of the psychology of nostalgia, and why Hollywood makes these remakes or long-gapped sequels. As people age, why do they seek comfort or lionize art that reflects a different time? Do the film compare in story and spectacle? The pair also explore how both films deal with PTSD and surviving trauma with how the characters progress through the natural disasters in the films. One thing they know for sure: that's going to be a no on storm-chasing! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Ed Hansen in a festive discussion of a recent, but to-be-considered a holiday classic, Alexander Payne's The Holdovers (2023). This is a story of a young, ne'er-do-well (Dominic Sessa as Angus Tully) who meets an immovable force in an old, curmudgeonly boarding school classic teacher (Paul Giamatti as Paul Hunham). They're both "heldover" the winter holidays at the prestigious Barton Academy, with a grieving mother played by Da'Vine Joy Randolph. Over the course of the break, the three learn more about each other and how to navigate an unforgiving landscape of adolescence and obsolescence. Psych concepts explored include generativity vs. stagnation, identity, isolation and grief, the stages of grief/death, and because Ed joined us, of course there's always some I/O psych involved. Because it's so random, we also speculate how Hunham would deal with the current wave of Generative AI taking over the education landscape! Stay for the fellowship, hold over with us! Follow Ed at several places on social media: @EdHansen_PhDAD Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Wind Goodfriend in a discussion of the psychological concepts found in the amazing psychological thriller Gaslight (1944) — THE origin of the word de jour "gaslighting" ! The film stars award-winning Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, as woman who's reality is being warped by her conniving and selfish husband, respectively. Within the psychological manipulation of gaslighting, the hosts also explore the ways emotional and psychological abuse is carried out in these kinds of relationships and even discuss a new scale that aims to help folks determining if they/re under the gaslighting spell! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC BY 3.0.

Join Alex as he takes a solo look at the sequel to a film that lives in our hearts and our heads, Inside Out 2 (2024). While the film has a lot to live up to from its predecessor, this new entry into Riley's head isn't a slouch. A new dynamic and new emotions enter the picture as Riley turns 13 years old and beings puberty during a summer hockey camp. Of the new emotions, Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke), butts heads with Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), and well, lots of wild and crazy events happen as they try to put the best self-concept of Riley forward. More great gags about the brain, as well as fun play on Blue's Clues, fill the runtime, which culminates into an anxiety attack both inside and outside of Riley's brain. Alex also shares his personal journey with clinical anxiety in this episode! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Nic Baldwin as they chat about the job analysis required to fly fighter planes on a super dangerous mission against an unnamed enemy in Top Gun: Maverick (2022). Tom Cruise returns to the role of Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, with a new crop of young Top Gun pilots, including Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, among others, as they figure out how to complete this really hard... nay, "impossible" mission in F-18s against 5th generation fighters (which mat or may not be AI-controlled airplanes). With amazing visual combined with an original story that hits several of the original's beats, this sequel has a number of psychological, as well as industrial-organizational concepts, including an in-depth conversation on AI-controlled military vehicles and what the future might hold. Take a listen is you have the need... the need for speed! Take the Highway to the Danger Zone! Check out Nic's podcast with his wife: In Love, with Movies Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Jane Halonen as they creepily peer into Alfred Hitchcock's psychological thriller Rear Window (1954). The film stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly, with minor roles from Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, and Raymond Burr. Another character in this film is the set, which was a meticulous reconstruction of a small Greenwich Village courtyard, meant to evoke paranoia and claustrophobia. In the addition, the duo reflects on voyeurism, scopophilia, and the various psychological ideas surrounding watching others when you can't do anything else in the heat of a dreary summer. Perhaps your thoughts will run wild with murder! Jane also explains her Psychology through Film senior seminar course and modern college student audience reactions to a film now 70 years old! Check out Jane's Wikipedia page here. Jane's most recent The Chronicle of Higher Education piece with Dana Dunn. Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Ed Hansen in a discussion of cognitive-behavioral therapy and socio-developmental psychology in the Oscar-winning writer/stars Matt Damon and ben Affleck breakout Good Will Hunting (1997). But let's not forget the runaway star of this movie, the other Oscar-winner of this film, Robin Williams! In a film directed by Gus Van Sant, Matt plays Will Hunting, a troubled but brilliant young adult who eschews therapy but ultimately benefits from Carl Rogers' ideas embodied in cognitive-behavioral therapy. Join them as they pahrk the cahr at Hahvahrd Yahrd and chat! Wicked ahwesome! Follow Ed on Twitter: @EdHansen_PhDAD Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Simon Rogoff as they explore the blatant narcissism in Damien Chazelle's jazz drumming masterpiece Whiplash (2014). Starring Miles Teller as Andrew Nieman, the jazz student, and J.K. Simmons as Fletcher, the jazz teacher, this film goes hard. Fletcher is the worst of the worst teacher, who justifies his actions by thinking he'll one day create the best jazz musician, while Andrew will top at nothing to become the next Charlie Parker. Explorations include, narcissism, of course, but also resiliency, perfectionism, and whether there are two narcissists in the movie, or just the one (Fletcher). Come fort he amazing jazz and jazz drumming, stay for the psychological exploration! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Jordan Wagge as they wax poetic and deep on one of Bill Murray's best, Groundhog Day (1993). Written and directed by comedy ace Harold Ramis and also starring Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, and Stephen Tobolowsky, this movie has become timeless with the question: what would you do with a day that repeats over and over? The concepts explored in the episode feature heavily in behaviorist and learning principles, as well as a discussion of research methods and hypothesis testing. Of course Phil needs to learn how to be a better human, and what better way to learn than testing his hypotheses about death, skills, and love? There's surely no better way than to repeat the same day over and over! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and returning guest host Dr. Christina Ragan as they continue their tradition of rage (?) watch another movie that has drugs that unlock portions of unused brain matter — Limitless (2011), a Bradley Cooper psychological thriller. Directed by Neil Burger and based on the book The Dark Fields (2001) by Alan Glynn, the film also stars Robert De Niro and Abbie Cornish. Would you take a drug that unlocks amazing brain power, but has a high risk of death? These are important questions that Alex and Christina address, while also explaining the drug actions portrayed in the film AND what amalgamation of drugs could be contained with the NZT-48... Check out the Neuroscience Teaching Conference! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex as he takes a solo look at the post-war fascist future of no emotions in Equilibrium (2002), Kurt Wimmer's 1984-esque future where a city-state has outlawed emotions. The film stars an up-and-coming Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean (blink-and-you'll-miss-it), with Emily Watson and Angus MacFadyen. After World War III, fascists thought war and crime were emotions' fault, so they developed a drug that suppresses emotional extremes, and if you don't take it everyday, read books, or participate in culture, well... Clerics come and act as judge, jury, and sometimes executioner! What do theories of emotion have to say about the portrayal of emotion in this film, and is its take accurate from psychological perspective? Does it matter with all the gun martial arts though? Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Chris Mazurek as they discuss the implications of a near-future world with human-looking androids called Replicants in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (1982). The film is based on Phillip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The film stars Harrison Ford, in between his Indiana Jones and Star Wars stints, who plays Rick Deckard, a Blade Runner — a person who hunts and kills (retires) these replicants because they're not supposed to be on Earth. Rutger Hauer plays Roy Batty, the leader of the replicant group being hunted, who ends up a tragic figure rather than merely a bad guy. He just wants to live more than four years! The guys explore the nature of life as a replicant, such as emotional development, sentience, memories, and objectification. It's a wild — and wet — world in Los Angeles 2019... of course those memories will be lost like tears in the rain. Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.

Join Alex and guest host Dr. Lee Golembiewski as they discuss the harrowing true story of a young gay man enduring conversion therapy in the US South in Boy Erased (2018). The film stars Lucas Hedges as Jared, playing a version of Garrard Conley, who wrote a memoir of the same name in 2016, detailing his journey through conversion therapy in the early 2000s. The film also stars Russell Crowe as his pastor father, who ultimately made the decision to send Jared to the harmful Christian ministry, Nicole Kidman, as his mother, who makes a startling transformation during the film, and Joel Edgerton, who plays the ministry's lead "counselor" — Edgerton also directed and assisted in adapting the book into a screenplay. They explore the therapy's practices, religion and spirituality, acceptance, and harm done by these kinds of programs, that to this day, still exist in many parts of the US and the world, because of the view that anything different in sexuality and gender from the norm of cisheteronormativity is aberrant and must be corrected through spiritual healing. While the filmmaking is rough around the edges, the message and themes are powerful ones from a psychological perspective! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), Twitter (@CinPsyPod), or Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast) and Threads (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0.