Freud’s Last Session may not have been with C.S. Lewis, Christian Apologist and author of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe to be, but what this film presupposes is: maybe it was?
Set on the day Hitler’s Nazi Germany invades Poland and begins WW2, Freud’s Last Session finds Matthew Goode (Stoker, Watchmen) as C.S. Lewis called to the home of Sigmund Freud, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Silence of the Lambs, Shadowlands), to debate the existence of God. A film built around dueling titans of thought, this dyad of actors should be the main draw for audiences. Not only are they two of the best thespians around going toe to toe, but Hopkins has famously played Goode’s role before, portraying an older, more experienced C.S. Lewis in the 1993 American remake of Shadowlands on HBO. Most fascinating of all is that instead of being blown out of the water by the greatest Shakespearian actor alive, Goode gives the better performance. Though, to be fair, he has more to do.
Matthew Goode as C.S. Lewis in FREUD’S LAST SESSION. Photographer: Patrick Redmond. Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
“So the surest indication of sanity would be the ability to change your mind.”
Having watched Shadowlands recently for this review, the key difference between Goode’s portrayal of Lewis and Hopkins’s is also that of the film’s view of the man: Hopkins played Lewis like an aged virgin afraid of a woman’s touch; Goode plays him like a man who has only recently stopped boning his dead best friend’s mom because he found Jesus. Because, at that moment, he was. Freud’s Last Session is not a watered-down cash grab aimed by Lionsgate (Jesus Revolution; God’s Not Dead series) at Christian audiences starved for competent narrative work about faith. This is a thorny, honest look at the contradictions of two complicated, important writers who are often unfairly flattened, co-opted, and wielded in culture war sparring matches by, frankly, dum-dums. The works of Freud and Lewis were evolving, stumbling works beyond their time, and often beyond ours. They were also compromised by the personal vices and propensities of those very men. And that, dear reader, is what this perfectly serviceable film is really about.
Biographical films are a hard needle to thread. Summarizing a whole life in two hours can become episodic and formulaic. Adapted from a play adapted from a book (The Question of God, by Armand Nicholi), Freud’s Last Session approaches the problem on two fronts. First, it pulls a Steve Jobs (2015) or Ferrari (2023) by focusing on a thematic moment. Second, it uses the contrast between two gigantic subjects to fill in the gaps in the other. From the jump, these two titans are poking holes not just in their words but in their hidden hearts, and it’s a clever construction. Freud refuses to acknowledge the sexuality of his lesbian daughter Anna, the hidden third lead (and best performance) of the film, played by Liv Lisa Fries (Munich: The Edge of War; Romeos). Meanwhile, C. S. Lewis is racked with a lot of guilt for a man who claims to be eternally forgiven.
Anthony Hopkins as Sigmund Freud in FREUD’S LAST SESSION. Photographer: Patrick Redmond. Photo Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
“I have only two words to offer humanity. ‘Grow up.’”
Where the film’s construction takes the edge off is the dialogue, which also provides what, on paper, should be another strength. In the film, Lewis’s parody of Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Regress, has just been published, in which he skewers Freud. He isn’t yet the author of Mere Christianity or The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, both born out of his civilian experience during WW2. While not one-to-one by any means, the arguments Freud and Lewis engage in will be familiar to those who have read Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters or seen the replicated speeches in Shadowlands. Their debate rhymes with these works, even within the text their argument mirrors those an unconverted Lewis has with J.R.R. Tolkien (Stephen Cambell Moore, (Amazing Grace, The Bank Job)) in flashback. This rhyme turns the film into an origin story of sorts for Lewis’s wartime radio broadcasts, but also does something more interesting. By emphasizing the immaturity of Pilgrim’s Regress, the film teaches you how to read Lewis — as an evolving artist and apologist, whose heart and process is more important to glean lessons from than any one opinion frozen in time. And by learning how to read such a writer, you learn how to learn about life.
This is how the film plays to the ear, but to the eye, the visual dynamism of the blocking and stark, noir compositions are tragically eviscerated by an overly digital look. Most discernable in the film’s few daylight scenes, some kind of digital denoising effect returns the texture of clothes we are meant to believe exist in the year 1945 into waxy plastic. Not everything must be shot on film, especially on a lean budget, but someone here clearly wanted it to look “cleaner” and ruined the excellent work of cinematographer Ben Smithard (The Bubble, Blinded by the Light).
So close yet so far is the name of the game with Freud’s Last Session. Its structure is useful and clever, but boring. Not a thrilling film, but trying to be. Pretty at a glance, ugly to inspect. There are splashes of brilliance about imagination, childhood, and dreams. Yet, like with its examination of Freud’s psychosexual relationship with his daughter, it’s more daring than its likely audience would want, and not daring enough to say much of anything. It’s a movie for adults, but not really for anyone in the end, at least, not enough anyones to fill a room. 3 Stars — at least it’s better than Shadowlands.
In select theaters beginning December 22nd, 2023.
In select North Carolina theaters January 19th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Freud’s Last Session website.
Final Score: 3 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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