Freud's Last Session
US release poster
Directed byMatthew Brown
Screenplay by
Based onFreud's Last Session
by Mark St. Germain
Produced by
  • Alan Greisman
  • Rick Nicita
  • Meg Thomson
  • Hannah Leader
  • Tristan Orpen Lynch
  • Robert Stillman
  • Enzo Zelocchi
  • Matthew Brown
Starring
CinematographyBen Smithard
Edited byPaul Tothill
Music byCoby Brown
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Classics (United States)
Release dates
  • 27 October 2023 (2023-10-27) (AFI)
  • 22 December 2023 (2023-12-22)
Running time
122 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States[1]
  • United Kingdom[1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$162,112[2]

Freud's Last Session is a 2023 drama film starring Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries, Jodi Balfour, Jeremy Northam, and Orla Brady. It is based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, which itself is based upon the book The Question of God, by Armand Nicholi. The film was directed by Matthew Brown and written by St. Germain. It premiered at the 2023 AFI Fest on October 27, 2023. Sony Pictures Classics released the film in the United States on 22 December 2023.

Plot

A fictional meeting occurs between C. S. Lewis, nicknamed "Jack", and Sigmund Freud, two days after the start of World War II, and a debate on God and other matters follows. The two men discuss issues such as Lewis' trauma as a World War I soldier, J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings, and the nature of Freud's and Lewis' relationships with other people, such as Freud's daughter Anna, who is pathologically dependent on her father. However, she eventually breaks free and introduces her lesbian partner, Dorothy Burlingham, to him.

Freud dies by suicide several weeks after the start of the war due to the intense pain from his oral cancer. C.S. Lewis goes on to become a famous author, and the children he takes in as refugees during the war serve as inspiration for his Narnia series. Anna and Dorothy live together for decades, and Anna becomes known as the founder of child psychology. The film notes that Freud met with an unidentified Oxford don in the last days of Freud's life, who could possibly have been Lewis.[3]

Cast

Production

WestEnd Films and CAA Media Finance took the project for sales to the Cannes Film Festival in May 2022 with Anthony Hopkins cast, and Matthew Brown on board as director for the St. Germain adaptation.[4] The film is produced by Alan Greisman, Rick Nicita, Meg Thomson and Hannah Leader, with production beginning in the U.K. in late January 2023.[5] However, for financial reasons Freud’s Hampstead house and famous psychoanalyst couch were recreated in Dublin at the Ardmore Studios.[6] A selection of props from the film (particularly the replica couch and garden tent chair) have since May 2023 been housed at the Freud Museum London. Co-produced by Aiofe O’Sullivan and Tristan Orpen Lynch of Subotica Operations, the film received UK Global Screen Fund International Co-production funding.[7][8] An image from principal photography was released in April 2023 with the film entering the final stages of filming in Ireland.[9]

Release

Freud's Last Session premiered at the 2023 AFI Fest on October 27, 2023.[10] That same month, Sony Pictures Classics purchased the distribution rights for North America, Middle East, India, Eastern Europe (excluding Russia), and Turkey.[11] It had a limited release in the United States on 22 December 2023.[12]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 60 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode are a tremendously talented pair, but Freud's Last Session is too scattered and thinly written to take full advantage of their efforts."[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 49 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Debruge, Peter (28 October 2023). "Freud's Last Session Review: Anthony Hopkins Slips Easily Into Sigmund's Skin in Talky Two-Hander". Variety. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "Freud's Last Session". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Gonzalez, Umberto (2 November 2022). "'Freud's Last Session' Starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode Lands at Sony Pictures Classics". The Wrap. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  4. ↑ Ritman, Alex (21 May 2022). "Cannes: Anthony Hopkins to Play Sigmund Freud in 'Freud's Last Session'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Ritman, Alex (2 November 2022). "AFM: Sony Pictures Classics Buys 'Freud's Last Session' Starring Anthony Hopkins as Famed Neurologist". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  6. ↑ Alberge, Dalya (13 February 2023). "Freudian trip: psychoanalyst's London home recreated in Dublin for major film". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Considine, Pippa (21 November 2022). "BFI UK Global Screen Fund: £2.2m to 14 co-pros". televisual.com. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  8. ↑ Daly, Lindy (12 March 2023). "Irish film industry facing plot twist after Oscars success as streamers withdraw". The Times. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  9. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (11 April 2023). "First Image Of Anthony Hopkins & Matthew Goode In 'Freud's Last Session' As Legendary Psychoanalyst & C.S. Lewis". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Hazelton, John. "AFI Fest line-up includes world premiere of Freud's Last Session". Screen Daily. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  11. ↑ Grobar, Matt (5 October 2023). "Sony Pictures Classics Dates Freud's Last Session Starring Anthony Hopkins & Matthew Goode – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  12. ↑ London, Rob (5 December 2023). "Two Legendary Minds Meet in Freud's Last Session Trailer". Collider. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Freud's Last Session". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Freud's Last Session". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
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