Anxiety can take many forms, including generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social anxiety, and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The recent pandemic and the worry over climate disaster has caused societies to take a closer look at anxiety, and realize that it's becoming more and more prevalent all the time.
Fortunately for movie buffs, the artistic medium may provide a great deal of comfort to individuals by tackling important issues that are often overlooked, as stigma around mental health can make it extremely difficult for those struggling to find answers or help. It also provides a safe place where one may retreat and realize that a person is not alone in their troubles, as well as assisting others in understanding friends or family members who suffer from anxiety disorders. Here are some films that perfectly capture what it's like to have anxiety.
Updated May 2023: If you are interested in watching movies that highlight mental health and anxiety, this article has been updated with additional content and entries by Danilo Raúl.
10 A Beautiful Mind (2001)
A Beautiful Mind is a biographical drama retelling the story of John Nash, a brilliant mathematician from Princeton. Starring Russel Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, the story explores the different approaches of Nash to life and the use of applied sciences in real-life situations. As an intellectual, Nash struggles with social situations. When confronted with the unlikely scenario of meeting a girl, the "every man for himself" approach does not suit him.
Nash gets involved in government projects and studies encrypted communications for the Department of Defense, a classified post that would take much of his time. During his tenure, he meets Alice Larde, the woman he would eventually marry only after being encouraged by close ones to propose. Realizing the danger of his job, he struggles to cope with the anxiety of losing his life and leaving his wife alone. The film was a critical and commercial hit that scored four Academy Awards.
9 Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Silver Linings Playbook is a small romance story written and directed by David O. Russell. The plot goes over the story of Patrizio Solitano Jr. after being released from a mental health facility. The man is recovering from a mental breakdown and has to deal with constant anxiety after being treated for bipolar disorder treatment. He aims to reconcile with his ex-wife, Nikki, without releasing that the ship has sailed. The film stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.
In his day-to-day, Pat meets Tiffany Maxwell, an attractive woman battling a mental illness. They connect and make a partnership as Pat asks Tiffany to deliver a letter to his ex, and Tiffany asks Pat to be his partner in a dance competition. It's a touching story illustrating the struggles faced by people with mental disorders and how they manage to be functional despite being reluctant to do anything out of their comfort zone.
8 Gravity (2013)
Gravity is an excellent film written, directed, and produced by Alfonso Cuarón, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The story begins with a spacewalk by Dr. Ryan Stone while servicing the Hubble Space Telescope in the company of astronaut Matt Kowalski. After a cloud of space debris strikes the HST, Stone drifts in space until Kowalski rescues her.
The film touches upon the theme of anxiety and how it can paralyze someone while activating the survival instincts of another. Stone has a mild notion about what to do as Kowalski walks her through the means to survive. When he's lost in space, she must make do with every resource to return to Earth. Like most of Cuarón's films, this one focuses on the survival instincts of their characters and the lengths they'll go to just stay alive by suppressing anxiety and concentrating on the task at hand.
7 Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 psychological drama directed by Academy Award nominee James Mangold. Starring the brilliant Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, who was the winner of multiple awards for her spectacular performance, Girl, Interrupted tackles exactly what it's like to have anxiety.
The film follows a young woman who admits herself into a psychiatric hospital to treat her anxiety and depression, where she is later diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and finds herself in a group of women who influence her life as she begins to understand who she really is. The movie perfectly encapsulates the insecurities that follow anxiety and how impressionable it can make an individual, along with the panic of fitting in, making friends, and finding a place to belong.
6 Amélie (2001)
This 2001 romantic comedy, starring Audrey Tautou and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, follows the story of a young woman who suffers from social anxiety, but who is trying to bring happiness to those around her whilst still battling her own isolation. Instead of engaging with people directly, she does it from afar and finds other ways of bringing happiness to people.
Not only does Amélie create one of the most lovable characters to grace our screens and a perfect portrayal of the struggle people with social anxiety face, but the film is also a beautiful story of self-discovery, as she learns to grow and become more comfortable with herself.
The movie comforts those who relate to this compassionate character and gives the audience a heartfelt, feel-good story with incredible music and visuals; fans can't help but see the beauty in everything as they become engrossed in the character's development. Amélie put Audrey Tautou on the international stage and was also nominated for many awards, winning a BAFTA for Best Screenplay.
5 Safe (1995)
Safe is an unusual psychological horror film from 1995, starring Oscar-winner Julianne Moore and directed by the great Todd Haynes, surrounding an extreme case of anxiety disorder. It follows the story of a woman, housewife to a successful businessman, whose anxiety worsens when she believes she's becoming allergic to nearly everything in industrialized society and is being attacked by invisible pollutants.
This wonderful portrayal of very severe generalized anxiety allows people to understand how individuals suffering from this disorder can turn a seemingly harmless fact into a much larger and serious issue, as well as being an eyeopening experience into how anxiety can affect the way a person views the world and herself, as well as the panic it can cause. The film has received renewed interest since the pandemic and is also one of the first and best films to tackle full-on the dangers of environmental pollution, something which justifiably causes mass, collective anxiety (otherwise known as 'climate dread').
4 The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
This 2012 coming-of-age drama has become one of the strongest movies about anxiety disorder in relation to younger generations. It follows Charlie (Logan Lerman) as he writes letters to an unnamed friend about his struggles as an anxious high school teenager.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower deals with serious topics like depression and suicide, as we see when Charlie is released from a mental institution after suffering from clinical depression after the death of his friend. Charlie ends up finding siblings Patrick (Ezra Miller) and Sam (Emma Watson) who consider themselves "outsiders" at school, and these three teens steal viewers' hearts as they develop a beautiful friendship.
Based on the popular novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower successfully portrays the harsh reality and struggles of mental health, fitting in, making friends, and dealing with trauma, which many people may relate to. Ultimately, it is a beautiful story of the quest for belonging and finding friendship and represents exactly what it's like for teens to navigate the highs and lows of adolescence.
3 Eighth Grade (2018)
Comedian Bo Burnham made his directorial debut with the coming-of-age film Eighth Grade. While it may encompass typical coming-of-age factors like school parties and awkward conversations with parents, the film tackles more serious issues, exploring something that many teenagers in school find themselves wrapped up in, like anxiety, especially as it relates to technology and the internet.
It follows the life of thirteen-year-old Kayla (Elsie Fisher), whose father tries to form a deeper connection with his daughter as she obsessively scrolls through social media at the dinner table. As she approaches the end of middle school, she tries to gain acceptance from her peers at school and copes by posting self-help videos on how to overcome self-esteem and confidence issues, though she realizes that her own life consists of dread and a lot of anxiety.
The movie may attract many teenagers falling into anxious thoughts and feelings and be a great teaching tool for adults who see it in their own children or themselves. Eighth Grade is an important film about what social media does to young people (a topic Burnham has feverishly explored) and may bring comfort and even a slight sense of closure to anyone suffering from anxiety.
2 Black Swan (2010)
Natalie Portman perfectly portrays ballet dancer Nina Sayers, who's battling psychological illness as she stars in a production of Swan Lake, in the psychological horror masterpiece Black Swan. After successfully being given the role of the White Swan, the audience follows her physical and mental deterioration.
Nina endures injuries as her stress, anxiety, and pressures of the roles advance, though it is difficult to tell what is real and what is not. Eventually, she suffers a psychotic break, hallucinations, and a disturbing metamorphoses of herself and others stemming from her anxiety. As the movie progresses, the line between reality and hallucinations blurs, resulting in a shocking climactic finale in which she fully embodies the Black Swan persona.
Black Swan tells a dark and compelling story of anxiety, alongside psychosis, with fantastic acting. It perfectly captures the struggle of anxiety-induced injury and failing mental health, especially in relation to the pressures that ballet dancers (and all performers) undergo. Director Darren Aronofsky intertwines Swan Lake and psychodrama in a way that can not be described as anything less than magnificent. Portman went on to win multiple Awards for her performance, including an Academy Award for Best Actress.
1 Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Punch-Drunk Love won Adam Sandler his first and only Golden Globe Nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and should've won him a lot more. It is the story of the blossoming romance between two socially anxious characters, Barry and Lena. As some may know, social anxiety can make us feel nervous about any social situation, even if it's just with family, and when Barry's sisters convince him to go to a party (with the hopes of setting him up with a girl), he becomes extremely anxious. After spending time together, though, Barry and Lena fall in love in a way totally specific to them, and she gives him the courage to confront his problems.
Ultimately, what is beautiful about Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love is that it doesn't demand that their love be burdensome, nor that their problems should be fixed, or his anxiety disappears, which would be unrealistic. Instead, the unique couple works together perfectly and flourishes just as they are. This is both a hopeful and realistic depiction of anxiety in a beautifully surreal, brilliantly acted film.