Passage à l'acte (1996) User Reviews

Deserves a little credit for the idea

[paidinfull13 · 2/10 · 31 March 2018]

This film had a good idea. The context of the relation between mental health doctor and his patients....mixt with suspense and drama.

I think the execution however was poor...not so much on the side of Daniel Auteil...but on the side of the patient. Something was missing in order for us to really understand and connect with the back story. It is as if the writer hid too much for us to really connect with some of the crucial players of the movie...in an attempt to not reveal too much of the ending. But this camouflaged information makes us not care about the story to begin with.

Incisive study of psychoanalysis and its dynamics

[Keltic-2 · 8/10 · 11 July 2000]

'Death in Therapy' is a rather engaging thriller in which a psychoanalyst, Dr Riviere, is drawn into an uncertain world of danger and violence as he attempts to determine whether his patient, Berg, is telling the truth when he announces in therapy that he murdered his wife and got away with it.

The narrative belies an understanding that the "patient" is not merely a passive object of analysis, but an actively engaged subject, and in the process of demonstrating the amount of control that Berg is able to exert over his analyst 'Death in Therapy' also makes some pointed observations with regards to the largely classificatory nature of psychiatry and its "professional detachment". To some extent, this point is underlined by Berg himself; in contrast, Riviere's other patients are seen as dull, neurotic, even comedic for Riviere.

An interesting film which raises many pertinent questions.

One of the best films about psychoanalysis

[nastyguzzo · 8/10 · 25 October 2000]

When we talk about what we expect from a film the answer quickly comes to our mind : We want entertainment , culture...etc.. That's one of these films.... Where is the culture on this one? Well I'd say that this is the best film I've ever seen on psychoanalysis... it describes the ways of transference... the false love....all the projections...identifications...and shows how a man can get confused by a treatment...how can a psychiatrist change the life of a sick man.....and how a sick man can change the life of a doctor.. SPOILER ALERT The film describes how dangerous is the use of psychoanalysis cause its dynamics and the love that is produced on the treatment can get a person killed... That's the way this movie works... the sick man in love for the doctor (who is sick too!) does everything to get his attention...and the doctor afraid of him ends by killing the sick man and taking his place to pretend that he's not dead! great movie!

Psycho suspence

[sergelamarche · 8/10 · 8 October 2021]

Old film that aged okay. We're not sure what to think of the psycho visiting the psy until all unravel swiftly. It is another take on psychopathy before it became TV fodder.