Many films have portrayed mental disorders or used them as backdrops for other themes. This is a list of some of those films, sorted by disorder, regardless of whether or not the disorder is portrayed accurately. Thus, though 50 First Dates presents a case of anterograde amnesia, the type depicted does not really exist.
In particular, owing to the nature of drama, extreme and florid manifestations of any given disorder tend to prevail over the more subtle ones typical of the average case. For example, people with agoraphobia are generally portrayed in drama as recluses who never, or almost never, venture from their homes; in reality this is rare and extreme, not typical of the agoraphobic population.
A person with anterograde amnesia is unable to form new memories.
Clean Slate – 1994
Winter Sleepers – 1997
Memento – 2000
Finding Nemo – 2003
50 First Dates – 2004
Ghajini – 2005
The Lookout – 2007
Ghajini – 2008
The Music Never Stopped – 2011
Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom – 2012
Remember Sunday – 2013
Medulla Oblongata – 2014
Before I Go To Sleep – 2014
Finding Dory – 2016
"A much-used plot device, retrograde amnesia occurs when a person forgets part or all of his or her past."
I Love You Again – 1940
Sullivan's Travels – 1941
Random Harvest (1942), in which Ronald Colman's character suffers from the condition not once but twice.
Crime Doctor – 1943
Anastasia – 1956
Paris, Texas – 1984
The Muppets Take Manhattan – 1984
Morning Patrol – 1987
Overboard – 1987
RoboCop – 1987
Innale – 1990
Regarding Henry – 1991
The Addams Family – 1991
The English Patient – 1996
Anastasia – 1997
Dark City – 1998
Mulholland Drive – 2001
The Majestic – 2001
The Bourne Identity – 2002
Finding Nemo – 2003
The Number 23 – 2007
Rumba – 2008
Unknown – 2011
Jab Tak Hai Jaan – 2012
The Vow – 2012
Fast and Furious 6 – 2013
Mumbai Police – 2013
Trance (2013 film) – 2013
Furious 7 – 2015
"Psychogenic amnesia, also known as dissociative amnesia, is memory loss caused by psychological stress."
Spellbound – 1945
The Snake Pit – 1948
Shadow on the Wall – 1950
Marnie – 1964
Mirage – 1965
Mister Buddwing – 1966
The Machinist (2004) – insomnia and PTSD inducing or co-morbid with hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and dissociative disorder
Shutter Island (2010) – considered dissociative disorders
Lacunar amnesia is the loss of memory about one specific event.
What Lies Beneath – 2000
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004
Mysterious Skin – 2004
Trance – 2013
Dream Lock – 2015
Ordinary People – 1980
Copycat – 1995
Mrs Dalloway – 1997
Elling – 2001
Punch-Drunk Love – 2002
White Oleander – 2002
The Village – 2004
2 Coelhos – 2012
Nerve – 2013
Grey Gardens – 1975
On the Right Track – 1981
What About Bob? – 1991
The Fear Inside – 1992
Copycat – 1995
Naked Fear – 1999
Frozen with Fear – 2000
Finding Forrester – 2000
I Am Sam – 2001
Public Domain – 2003
Ocean's Twelve – 2004
The Aviator – 2004
The Benchwarmers – 2006
N.H.K. ni Yōkoso! – 2006
Nim's Island – 2008
Restraint – 2008
Tokyo! – 2008
The Uninvited – 2008
Bunny and the Bull – 2009
Devil – 2010
Columbus Circle – 2011
Protect the Boss – 2011
Citadel – 2012
Los Últimos Días – 2013 – increasing numbers of people contract a form of agoraphobia, called "the Panic", which can be fatal if they venture outside
Phobia – 2016
Sparrows Dance – 2012
The Best Offer – 2013
The Last Days – 2014
Shrew's Nest – 2014
Big Sky – 2015
Within – 2016
Elling – 2001
Shrek – 2001
Adaptation – 2002
Bubble – 2006
Ali's Eight Days – 2009
The King's Speech – 2010
Nerve – 2012
Mr. Robot – 2015 (TV series)
Cul-de-Sac – 1966 character of George
The Godfather – 1972 character of Fredo Corleone
The Glass Menagerie – 1973
The Godfather, Part II – 1974 character of Fredo Corleone
Zelig – 1983
Back to the Future – 1985 character of George McFly
Fargo – 1996 characters of Jerry Lundegaard and Mike Yanagita
The Peanuts Movie - 2015 character of Charlie Brown
The Bad Seed – 1956
A Clockwork Orange – 1971
The Crush – 1993
The Good Son – 1993
The Butterfly Effect – 2004
Delusional disorder; and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified
Sunset Boulevard – 1950
Repulsion – 1965
The Ninth Configuration – 1980 with an extreme introjective identification twist
The King of Comedy – 1983
Misery – 1990
Singapore Sling – 1990
Bulletproof Heart – 1994
In the Mouth of Madness – 1994
Invisible Child – 1999
A Beautiful Mind – 2001
Donnie Darko – 2001
Swimfan – 2002
The Machinist – 2004
A Scanner Darkly – 2006
Lars and the Real Girl – 2007
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter – 2014
They Look Like People – 2015
Anomalisa – 2015
On Golden Pond – 1981
Driving Miss Daisy – 1989
Mars Attacks! – 1996
El hijo de la novia (Son of the Bride) – 2001
En sång för Martin (A Song For Martin) – 2001
Iris – 2001
A Time to Remember – 2003
De Zaak Alzheimer (The Memory of a Killer) – 2003
A Moment to Remember (Nae meorisokui jiwoogae) – 2004
The Notebook – 2004
Black – 2005
Thanmatra – 2005
Away from Her – 2006
Lovely, Still – 2008
U Me Aur Hum – 2008
A Separation – 2011
Before We Forget – 2011
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – 2011
Terri – 2011
The Iron Lady – 2011
Wrinkles – 2011
Amour – 2012
Robot and Frank – 2012
Nebraska – 2013
Honig im Kopf (Head Full Of Honey) – 2014
Still Alice – 2014
American Splendor – 2003
Revolutionary Road – 2008
See also psychogenic amnesia (dissociative amnesia)
La Grande Bouffe – 1973
The Best Little Girl in the World – 1981
Kate's Secret – 1986
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story – 1987
An Anorexic's Tale: The Brief Life of Catherine – 1988
The Karen Carpenter Story – 1989
Life Is Sweet – 1990
Uncle Bun – 1991 (Malayalam)
For the Love of Nancy – 1994
301, 302 – 1995
Dying to be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story – 1996
When Friendship Kills – 1996
Perfect Body – 1997
A Girl is a Girl – 1999
Cruel Intentions – 1999
Girl, Interrupted – 1999
NOVA: Dying to Be Thin – 2000 (documentary)
Sharing the Secret – 2000
Slender Existence – 2000 (short film)
Dying to Dance – 2001
Love on a Diet – 2001
Elephant – 2003
Hunger Point – 2003
Perfect Illusions: Eating Disorders and the Family – 2003 (documentary)
The Devil Wears Prada – 2006
Thin – 2006
Dana: The 8 Year Old Anorexic – 2007 (documentary)
Skins – 2007 (TV series)
To Be Fat Like Me – 2007
Glee – 2009 (TV series)
Black Swan – 2010
Pretty Little Liars – 2010
Sharing the Secret – 2010
Rigodon – 2012
Compulsion – 2013
Starving In Suburbia – 2014
God Help The Girl – 2015
The Road Within – 2015
Fatal Attraction – 1987
The Crush – 1993
The In Crowd – 2000
Obsessed – 2002
He loves me... He loves me not – 2002
Enduring Love – 2004
Obsessed – 2009
Bug – 2006
Rathinirvedam – 1978
Thakara – 1979
Pink Floyd—The Wall – 1982
Desatanakkili Karayarilla – 1986
Shame – 2011
Silver Linings Playbook – 2012
Nymphomaniac – 2013
Gone with the Wind – 1939 Scarlett O'Hara, Vivien Leigh
They Drive by Night – 1940
Mr. & Mrs. Smith – 1941
A Streetcar Named Desire – 1951 Blanche DuBois, Vivien Leigh
Thaniyavarthanam – 1987
Small Sacrifices – 1989 Diane Downs, Farrah Fawcett
Small Sacrifices – 1989
Postcards from the Edge – 1990
Beaches – 1991
The Birdcage – 1996
America's Sweethearts – 2001
Chicago – 2002
Being Julia – 2004
Mean Girls – 2004 character of Regina
Forgetting Sarah Marshall – 2008
My Week with Marilyn – 2011
Young Adult – 2011
American Hustle – 2013 character of Rosalyn Rosenfeld
The Great Gatsby – 2013 character of Daisy Buchanan
Breathe – 2014
Anger Management – 2003
Wedding Crashers – 2005 Sack Lodge, Bradley Cooper
Goodfellas – 1990 Tommy Devito, Joe Pesci
Raging Bull – 1980 Jake Lamotta, Robert De Niro
Teen Wolf – 2011 Liam Dunbar, Dylan Sprayberry
The Angry Birds Movie - 2016 Red, Jason Sudeikis
Happy Gilmore- 1996 Happy Gilmore, Adam Sandler
L.A. Confidential-1997 Bud White, Russell Crowe
New Jack City – 1991 Nino Brown, Wesley Snipes
Vadakkunokkiyantram – 1989
Escobar: Paradise Lost – 2014
M – 1931
Germany, Year Zero – 1948
The Mark – 1961
The Damned – 1969
Sweet Movie – 1974
Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom – 1975
Pretty Baby – 1978
Tras el cristal – 1986
Singapore Sling – 1990
Lolita – 1997
Happiness – 1998
Arayannangalude Veedu – 2000
Donnie Darko – 2001
Fat Girl – 2001
Kill Bill Volume 1 – 2003
Mystic River – 2003
Birth – 2004
The Butterfly Effect – 2004
Mysterious Skin – 2004
The Woodsman – 2004
Hard Candy – 2005
Sin City – 2005
Little Children – 2006
Achchamundu! Achchamundu! – 2009
5 Sundarikal – 2013 (segment: Sethulakshmi)
Taxi Driver – 1976
Charly – 1968
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle – 1992
I am Sam – 2001
Radio – 2003
In Her Shoes – 2005
Taare Zameen Par – 2007, Hindi
Heavy Load – 2008
The Reader – 2008
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief – 2010
Mission To Lars – 2012
Martha – 1974 Helmut Salomn, Karlheinz Böhm
The Green Mile – 1999 Percy Wetmore, Doug Hutchinson
Speed – 1994 Howard Payne, Dennis Hopper
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – 1966
Schramm: Into the Mind of a Serial Killer – 1993
The Remains of the Day – 1993 James Stephens, Anthony Hopkins
Shine – 1996
Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala – 1998
Side Effects – 2013
Love & Mercy – 2014
"Drugs listed from most addictive, harmful or destructive to least (from most to least dangerous, based on a 2007 scientific research study."
When a Man Loves a Woman – 1994 alcohol
The Lost Weekend – 1945 alcohol
Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman – 1947 alcohol
Night Into Morning – 1951 alcohol
Come Back, Little Sheba – 1952 alcohol
The Man with the Golden Arm – 1955 heroin
Bigger Than Life – 1956 cortisol
Monkey on My Back – 1957 morphine
Days of Wine and Roses – 1962 alcohol
Long Day's Journey Into Night – 1962 morphine, alcohol
Valley of the Dolls – 1967 amphetamines (Dexedrine), pethidine/meperidine (Demerol), barbiturates (pentobarbital, secobarbital, amobarbital)
More – 1969 heroin, amphetamines, barbiturates, alcohol (absinthe), cannabis
A Day at the Beach – 1970 alcohol
Trash – 1970 heroin
Jennifer on My Mind – 1971 heroin
The Panic in Needle Park – 1971 heroin
Pure Shit – 1975 heroin
Christiane F. – 1981 heroin, PCP, methaqualone (Mandrax/Quaaludes), alcohol, temazepam, diazepam, MDMA, cannabis
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can – 1982 Diazepam (Valium)
Pink Floyd – The Wall – 1982 marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, steroids
Veronika Voss – 1982 opiates
Scarface – 1983 heroin, cocaine, methaqualone (Quaaludes)
8 Million Ways to Die – 1986 alcohol
Sid and Nancy – 1986 heroin, cocaine, methadone
Morning Patrol – 1987 alcohol
Drugstore Cowboy – 1989 morphine, oxymorphone, hydromorphone, amphetamines, cocaine, alcohol, temazepam, triazolam, flurazepam, diazepam lorazepam, LSD
Goodfellas – 1990 heroin, cocaine, amphetamines
Jungle Fever – 1991 cocaine
New Jack City – 1991 cocaine
Rush – 1991 heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, cannabis
Ed Wood – 1994 morphine
Fresh – 1994 heroin, cocaine, alcohol
The Crow – 1994 morphine, cocaine, alcohol, cannabis
Leaving Las Vegas – 1995 alcohol
The Basketball Diaries – 1995 heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates, alcohol, inhalants, cannabis
Trainspotting – 1996 heroin/morphine, dextromoramide, amphetamines, cocaine, pethidine/meperidine (Demerol), opium, methadone, pentobarbital, amobarbital, alcohol, buprenorphine, temazepam, diazepam, phenobarbital, MDMA, cannabis
Playing God – 1997 morphine, fentanyl, amphetamines
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – 1998 amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates, alcohol, inhalants, mescaline, LSD, cannabis
Gia – 1998 heroin, cocaine, alcohol
Permanent Midnight – 1998 heroin, cocaine, methadone
Broken Vessels – 1999 methamphetamine, heroin
Cruel Intentions – 1999 cocaine, alcohol
Jesus' Son – 1999 heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, opium, alcohol, diazepam, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms
Magnolia – 1999 morphine, cocaine, MDMA
28 Days – 2000 Oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, benzodiazepines
Almost Famous – 2000 hydrocodone (Vicodin), methaqualone (Quaaludes), LSD, cannabis
American Psycho – 2000 cocaine, alcohol, temazepam, triazolam, alprazolam, MDMA, cannabis
In Vanda's Room – 2000 heroin
Requiem for a Dream – 2000 heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, barbiturates, alcohol, benzodiazepines, MDMA, LSD, cannabis
Traffic – 2000 heroin, cocaine, cannabis
Blow – 2001 cocaine, alcohol, LSD, cannabis
Bully – 2001 methamphetamine, LSD, cannabis
Hannibal – 2001 morphine, temazepam, midazolam, chloroform
24 Hour Party People – 2002 heroin, cocaine, methadone, MDMA
Love Liza – 2002 huffing gasoline
Pure – 2002 heroin, cocaine, alcohol, cannabis
Spun – 2002 methamphetamine, amphetamine
The Loser Takes It All – 2002 alcohol
The Salton Sea – 2002 methamphetamine, alcohol
Party Monster – 2003 heroin, cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, LSD
Wonderland – 2003 methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, methaqualone (Quaaludes), cannabis
One Perfect Day – 2004 morphine, amphetamines, codeine, temazepam, MDMA, cannabis
Get Rich or Die Tryin' – 2005 morphine, cocaine, alcohol, cannabis
A Scanner Darkly – 2006 amphetamines, methamphetamine, cannabis, cocaine
Candy – 2006 heroin/morphine, methadone, MDMA, cannabis
Factory Girl – 2006 heroin, amphetamines, oxycodone, hydrocodone, temazepam, lorazepam, cannabis
Lights in the Dusk – 2006 alcohol
Love is the Drug – 2006 cocaine, hydrocodone, alcohol, codeine, Viagra, cannabis
Someone To Run With – 2006 heroin, cocaine
The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down – 2006 heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA, Viagra, cannabis
Across the Universe – 2007 morphine, LSD, cannabis
Enter the Void – 2008 DMT, methamphetamine, cocaine, alcohol, MDMA, LSD, cannabis
Anna Karenina – 2012 morphine
Flight – 2012 heroin, cocaine, alcohol
On the Road – 2012 morphine, amphetamines, alcohol, cannabis
The Wolf of Wall Street – 2013 cocaine, alcohol, methaqualone
I Smile Back – 2015 cocaine, alcohol
Nee-Na – 2015 alcohol
To Write Love on Her Arms – 2015 alcohol, cocaine (other drugs not specified)
