Based on a play of the same name Freud’s Last Session is making it’s way to movie theaters this week. Promising a debate like no other on religion and other parts of life between Sigmund Freud and noted author CS Lewis. The movie, having notable names in the actors as well as the characters they are portraying seems like it could be one that could spart the interest of a lot of different audiences.
There’s no doubt that Freud’s Last Session will spark joy in the hearts of literary fans with the appearances of CS Lewis, Sigmund Freud, Tolkien, and more. But these colorful characters are mostly there to move the plot along and to add to the story. The reality is, that even though Freud did have a visit with someone from the college before he died, historians are not sure exactly who it was and what was discussed. That means, while the concept of a great psychologist and an author who essentially created his own religious allegory in his books is interesting – it is just that. They could have met, they could have spent the hours of a rainy night breaking down the truth as they both saw it about God, religion, and their lives. But we will never know.
The whole story is just as much fantasy as Narnia. And while it may be an interesting hook for a movie – the actual discussion never really comes to any resolve – but why would it? These two giants in literature and medical science would never come to terms with many things, much less religion. This leaves the movie feeling deflated, pointless, and overdrawn. And that initial excitement of the literary giants gracing the screen is quickly worn away.
The movie hops between both men’s stories and pasts and weaves in a bit about the life and work of Freud’s daughter Anna. It’s the beginning of the Second World War as well, so religious tension is high which should add a bit more to the complexity of the discussion. Instead it seems to be left as just part of the movie that keeps it movie.
While I don’t know if the play portrays the story better, Freud’s Last Session started with a lot of promise but resulted in what can only be described as disappointment. But maybe that’s the point after all? We know that CS Lewis wouldn’t have been able to swing the mind of Sigmund Freud to Christianity even as death looms over him.
Freud’s Last Session is in select theaters now.
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About Freud’s Last Session
On the eve of the Second World War, two of the greatest minds of the twentieth century, C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud converge for their own personal battle over the existence of God. Freud’s Last Session interweaves the lives of Freud and Lewis, past, present, and through fantasy, bursting from the confines of Freud’s study on a dynamic journey.