Summary

• Mental health-themed movies on Netflix aim to address real-life struggles experienced by many, sparking important discussions.
• From documentaries to intense dramas, Netflix offers a diverse selection of films that tackle various mental health issues.
• While some movies may inaccurately portray mental illness, others provide eye-opening looks at important yet often overlooked topics.

Content Warning: This article discusses mental health issues and disorders that some readers may find triggering.

While it is often a difficult subject to address, mental health movies on Netflix attempt to look at the experiences countless people deal with on a daily basis. Mental health has been a growing concern, a topic that is more in the public eye as younger generations show a willingness to discuss it more openly. With Netflix's collection of movies, there are a number of titles in its current library that tackle a variety of mental health issues.

The subject of mental health has been a notoriously difficult one to see accurately portrayed in movies. There are many movies that inaccurately portray mental illness and struggles in gimmicky and exploitative ways that are offensive. However, there are also films that give eye-opening looks at subjects not often dealt with in the mainstream, and even if they have their flaws, can raise awareness about things many people are still reluctant to discuss. From documentaries to intense dramas, the best mental health movies on Netflix are worth examining.

20 All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)

A Young Soldier Loses His Humanity In WWI

The Oscar-winning war movie All Quiet on the Western Front is only partially based on a true story but does seek to give an authentic and brutal portrait of World War I. The movie follows a young soldier who s the German army out of a sense of patriotism and is soon awakened to the horrors of the battlefield.

All Quite on the Western is also very effective at examining the mental health of the soldiers and the trauma they endure.

The ways in which these younger soldiers were forced to give their lives for an unimportant cause while those ordering them into battle sat comfortably far back from the frontlines is brilliantly highlighted. All Quite on the Western is also very effective at examining the mental health of the soldiers and the trauma they endure.

Unlike many war movies that show the heroism of young soldiers, the film does not shy away from the fear these men felt and takes away the idea of the stoic soldier. The protagonist, Paul, turns from a bright young man to a shell of his former self, a heartbreaking look at what these soldiers had to sacrifice with their mental health.

19 Leo (2023)

A Talking Lizard Helps Kids With Anxiety

Adam Sandler’s Netflix movies have gradually grown from the typical juvenile comedies he was once known for to some of his most brilliant work. His impressive streak on the platform continued with the animated comedy Leo. Sandler provides the voice of the titular character, a lizard who is kept as a pet in a young elementary school classroom.

Wanting to see the world, he reveals to the kids that he can talk so they will take him home. The movie is funny and entertaining but it also has a lot of worthwhile messages for children and how to deal with anxieties that go along with growing up.

Leo proves to be a great mentor to the kids, offering them advice on different aspects of their lives and their challenges. As a result, the movie teaches the young audience important messages about how to live with disappointment, that it is okay to be different, and that everyone has anxiety at times.

18 Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

A Traumatized Teen Is Hunted By Leatherface

Netflix delivered the latest of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies, bringing the franchise into a new era with mixed results. The movie goes for a more modern feel as it centers on a group of young online influencers attempting to start a new community in an isolated Texas town.

However, they soon find themselves hunted by the brutal and vengeful Leatherface, who is on his own in this movie rather than being used as a tool by his more sadistic family . While the mental health components of Leatherface as a character have always been vague and not really worth diving into, this 2022 reboot/sequel does include a controversial storyline about post-traumatic stress with the character of Lila (Elsie Fisher).

It is revealed that she is a survivor of a school shooting and left with a lot of trauma. While this is a sad reality many children face in the modern world, including the storyline in a movie in which Lila is further tormented by violence is questionable and proves mental health storylines in movies can sometimes be ill-advised.

17 The Killer (2023)

An Assassin's OCD Leads Him On A Mission Of Revenge

David Fincher returned to Netflix with a new thriller that features a very unique deadly protagonist. Michael Fassbender stars in The Killer as an unnamed assassin who botches a job and becomes targeted by his employer. This sends the killer on a relentless mission to take out all of the people who are after him, setting things right after his mistake.

The Killer is based on a French graphic novel of the same name.

What is fascinating about the character is how his obvious obsessive-compulsive disorder dictates the plot. The opening sequence is an engrossing look at his strict and well-thought-out routine while on a mission, showing his regimented approach to life.

When things go wrong, he uses the same approach in going on his revenge mission. Most vengeful assassin movies, like the John Wick movies, would deal with the emotional side of the revenge. However, Fassbender’s character takes the emotion out of it and does this as if it is a checklist he needs to go through before he can relax.

16 Spaceman (2024)

An Astronaut Deals With Depression In The Cosmos

It wasn’t too long ago that the idea of two Adam Sandler movies providing thoughtful commentary on mental health would have seemed ridiculous. However, Spaceman marks the latest Netflix movie from Sandler and the actor’s most serious work on the platform.

The sci-fi drama stars Sandler as astronaut Jakub on a solo mission in the cosmos when he encounters a terrifying-looking yet friendly alien creature who begins to help Jakub with his struggle with loneliness. Spaceman is a quieter and more intimate sci-fi movie that deals with the mental health of many of its characters.

Jakub’s struggles with depression and isolation on the mission are a big part of his story, as is his childhood trauma related to his father. Back on Earth, his wife, Lenka (Carey Mulligan), is dealing with her own depression and not having him around. Even the alien creature Hanuš (Paul Dano) expresses its own melancholic feelings. It is a reminder of how having someone to talk to about these feelings can help.

15 The Starling (2021)

A Grieving Mother Tries To Take Care Of Everyone But Herself

Though Melissa McCarthy has received plenty of praise for her comedic movies, she has also starred in a number of dramas, including The Starling. McCarthy has an excellent grasp of bringing comedic moments into drama and bringing pathos into comedy, so it's no wonder that a drama like The Starling suits her so well.

This Netflix movie sees McCarthy as Lilly Maynard, a woman dealing with the loss of her infant daughter. The tragic loss has led to her husband seeking treatment at a psychiatric hospital while she attempts to maintain her life back home.

While the movie didn’t receive strong reviews, it does address shared grief in an interesting way. While her husband’s grief has taken her priority as she attempts to get him healthy again, Lilly ignores her own grief, and it intensifies within her.

14 The Woman In The Window (2021)

A Reclusive Woman Witnesses A Crime

Based on the novel of the same name, 2021's The Woman in the Window is a star-studded thriller starring Amy Adams as an agoraphobic woman who thinks she witnessed a murder in the apartment across the street. This particular plot device of someone confined to their home and witnessing a crime has been used before in thrillers like Disturbia, but those characters are usually confined because of circumstances, like house arrest.

Here, it's the phobia of setting her foot outside her door that has Adams' character feeling stuck. While the movie uses the mental health issue partially as a plot device to aid in the mystery, Adams’ committed performance grounds the character’s struggles.

The meetings with her psychiatrist are also illuminating as they show the defensive and protective reactions some people have when being asked to address their own mental health.

13 Luckiest Girl Alive (2022)

A Successful Woman Confronts Past Trauma

Mila Kunis is best known for her comedy roles as a teen actor when That '70s Show gave her her big break, but she has had some great dramatic parts as an adult, like those in Black Swan and Third Person. Kunis also received some of the best reviews of her career for the psychological thriller Luckiest Girl Alive.

The movie deals with the trauma of such experiences and the healing that comes from finally acknowledging the painful truths.

Based on the book of the same name, Kunis stars as a successful magazine editor who is forced to deal with a dark secret when the story of her surviving a school shooting as a teenager is brought back up. Along with the heavy subject matter of gun violence, this Netflix movie addresses past abuse Kunis’ character has attempted to suppress. The movie deals with the trauma of such experiences and the healing that comes from finally acknowledging the painful truths.

12 Pieces Of A Woman (2020)

A Wife And Mother Copes With Loss

Recent Marvel Cinematic Universe addition Vanessa Kirby was nominated for an Oscar for her harrowing performance in Pieces of a Woman. She stars as a young woman who goes through a complicated pregnancy and loses her child in the process.

The movie deals with the depression of Kirby’s character and her husband (Shia LaBeouf). Both characters take drastically different approaches to their loss, reflective of how grief can pull people apart just as much as it can bring them together.

While he self-medicates with cocaine, she deals with various people attempting to help her cope with the loss. However, the movie gives a powerful message of how such well-intentioned help can actually be harmful sometimes, as Kirby’s character needs time to process while acknowledging her trauma is something she will never fully get over.

11 Brain On Fire (2016)

A Woman's Medical Situation Spirals

Many of Netflix's movies that tell stories of mental health conflicts or treatments are inspired by novels or memoirs. Brain on Fire is no exception. Released in 2016, Brain on Fire is based on the memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan.

The book tells the story of Cahalan, who experienced a mysterious illness while working for the New York Post, which was misdiagnosed by doctors. This medical error saw her almost committed to a psychiatric facility, where she likely would have died. In the movie, Chloë Grace Moretz stars as Cahalan as she fights to find out the truth about her condition, which ends up being encephalitis.

Once discovered, she received the treatment she needed and wrote her book to let others know that hope was possible. This particular movie is especially timely as social media abounds with similar stories of people knowing that something is wrong with their body, but being misdiagnosed by doctors, or not diagnosed at all.