The Patient, starring a dramatic Steve Carrell and morbid Domnhall Gleeson, is a limited series exploring the unique interpersonal relationship between a therapist in the grip of ennui and a patient at the mercy of his homicidal thoughts. Their sessions take a dark turn when Carrell's Dr. Strauss finds himself in the killer's basement, forced to help cure him of his sanguinary urges before he strikes again (perhaps closer to home).
Fans of content that combine psychological thrills with tense therapy sessions and an examination of serial killer pathology will find that these TV shows and movies evoke the themes of The Patient while perhaps even taking them a step or two further.
Mr. Brooks (2007)
Rent On Prime Video
In an atypical situation, Kevin Costner portrays a respected businessman who must perpetually keep his subconscious in check. As the physical manifestation of his id "Marshall", William Hurt is the dark part of himself spurring him on to perform grisly murders while a detective (Demi Moore) begins to close in on his movements around Portland, Oregon.
As in The Patient, Mr. Brooks takes its time carefully examining the mechanisms behind the killer's need to kill, from the motivations and inspirations to the projected nuances and subtleties that, while less grandiose, differentiate it from other, similar entertainment. Costner's inherent likability work here because, like most real serial killers appear after having been caught, his "normal" and unassuming nature belies the malevolence that lurks beneath.
Dexter (2006 - 2013)
Stream On Paramount+
In this fresh take on a crime procedural, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) uses his pathos as a serial killer to inform the criminal investigations of his police officer sister as a blood splatter expert. Only his father Harry knows about Dexter's double-life, and guides his skills to becoming a TV serial killer with the highest kill count.
Gleeson's Sam and Hall's Dexter both have means of justifying their particular methods of killing rooted in their worldviews, so fans interested in the inner-workings of a serial killer's mind will find Dexter eye-opening and darkly humorous.
Don't Say A Word (2001)
Stream On STARZ
When prominent child psychologist Dr. Nathan Conrad (Michael Douglas) is persuaded by a colleague to interview a mysterious young woman (Brittany Murphy) at a local psychiatric hospital, he has no idea how much the woman will impact his life. Locked away in her memory is the secret to not only saving her life, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
Don't Say A Word can feel a little heavy on the exposition, even with its most daring plot twists, but magnetic performances from a top-tier cast keep this stylishly shot thriller engaging. Fans of The Patient's more subversive Hitchcockian elements will relish this movie's many surprises.
In Treatment (2008-2021)
Stream On HBO Max
Each episode of In Treatment acts as a "session" revealing fascinating insight into the minds of each patient who sees Dr. Paul Weston (Gabriel Byrne), a probing and charming psychologist who helps them comfortably discuss everything from extramarital affairs to ambiguous sexuality. The conversations are emotional, unbiased, and intense.
With a yearning to shake off the ambivalence that has settled over his life, Weston's character is similar to Carell's Dr. Strauss, though his ability to see his own therapist at the end of each week grants him more opportunities to dissect the dissatisfying elements in his life.
Foxcatcher (2014)
Stream On Hulu
Foxcatcher begins as a gripping sports drama about Mark Schultz, a promising Olympic good medalist, whose brief time under the training regiment of John du Pont (Steve Carrell) devolves into a twisted tale of depression, manipulation, and death.
Fans will relish Carell's type-cast breaking performance and dramatic commitment to du Pont, whose intense psychological manipulation of his charge while being his mentor is both incredibly unsettling and wildly absorbing. Beyond simply a wrestling drama, it's a study of the human condition, and how the opportunity to control can breed unfathomable depths of mental and physical depravity.
Hannibal (2013-2015)
Stream On HBO Max
The serial killer interviews the patient in Hannibal, which follows the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecter prior to his capture as he advises young FBI profiler, Will Graham. As Graham's cases become increasingly more savage, he has no idea that his therapist might be responsible, even as clues begin emerging in their sessions.
While the initial premise is intriguing, it's how the two men work through their knowledge of one another that gives the series its edge. Like The Patient, the series explores the moral platitudes of a murderous pathology equally with its gory details. Charismatic performances, mind-bending themes, along with some of the most arresting cinematography and art direction of any similar series are among the reasons Hannibal should be binge-watched.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Stream On Tubi
Matt Dillon stars as a highly intelligent serial killer in The House That Jack Built, chronicling his methodical and visceral killing spree over more than a decade. Each murder chips away a little more at his masterfully constructed facade, until a fully developed murderer emerges who seemingly wants to be caught.
The movie seems to explore what would happen for Gleeson's Sam if he hadn't kidnapped Dr. Strauss, exploring the endgame and natural conclusion of a serial killer who is allowed to murder for his own benefit over more than a decade.
Mindhunter (2018-present)
Stream On Netflix
The progenitor of FBI profiling is found in Mindhunter, a series that reveals the beginning of special sectors of law enforcement using behavioral patterns and psychological parameters to identify, classify, and analyze serial killers. In doing so, the goal is to prevent their crimes in the future, though the process is slow-going, tedious, and marred with the socio-economic burdens of the 1970s.
While some creative liberties are taken with the history involved in the series, Mindhunter has mainly accurate depictions of serial killers, and the variety of compulsory ways humans can take lives is staggering and yet, once carefully quantified, discernable and demystified.
Lie To Me (2009-2011)
Stream On Hulu
Tim Roth plays Dr. Cal Lightman, the world's leading expert on body language and facial expressions, using both (and along with vocal intonation) to determine if someone is lying. Each new case provides him a mystery to solve — beginning on the map across a suspect's face.
One of the key facets of the series is that people are perfectly capable of deceiving themselves as much as they are other people in their life. Carell's Dr. Strauss has to confront the fact that there are aspects of his life as hidden and dark as that of his captors', and only in that relation can he connect and possibly escape.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Stream On HBO Max
Matt Damon launched his career writing and starring in Good Will Hunting, about a janitor with a genius-level IQ who solves an incredibly difficult math problem and earns the interest of the faculty he cleans up after every day. He becomes the subject of intense scrutiny by certain professors who want him to rise to his potential, but he refuses their help.
Robin Williams plays Dr. Maguire, a professor of psychology, who works on breaking down Will's defenses and gets him to open up about certain aspects of his life. In the process, the therapist becomes the patient, releasing certain biases and walls of his own. It may lack the tension of The Patient, but the emphasis on mutual trust, and ability to become vulnerable mirrors many of its most fascinating conversations between Gleeson and Carell.