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Dr. Sigmund Freud is well known for his work with psychoanalysis and his sometimes controversial viewpoints. C. S. Lewis is known for his beloved novels—as well as his books about Christianity. And Freud’s Last Session places the two legendary minds together in the same room to argue their differing beliefs.
Freud’s Last Session finds Freud (Anthony Hopkins) meeting with Lewis (Matthew Goode) just days after the Nazi invasion of Poland in September of 1939. As the rest of London prepares for war, the two men sit down in Freud’s quiet study to debate the existence of God. And, in the process, they touch on old hurts and challenging relationships, discussing everything from their childhood heartbreak to Lewis’s conversion and his controversial relationship with his friend’s mother to Freud’s spreading sickness and his troubled relationship with his daughter, Anna (Liv Lisa Fries).
Adapted from the stage play by Mark St. Germain about an imagined meeting between two great minds of their time, Freud’s Last Session sets up a fascinating debate, allowing the two characters to discuss their similarities and differences: their difficult relationships with their fathers, their love of nature, and their vastly differing views of religion.
Anthony Hopkins gives a passionate performance as the ailing psychoanalyst who’s so set in his ways yet still trying to make sense of the world around him. He tries to set Lewis up and analyze his past, suggesting that the author’s distant father could have caused him to long for a godly father figure. But Lewis doesn’t back down, suggesting in response that the older man’s relationship with an angry, overpowering father could explain his need to flee from a father-like God. And it’s in these moments—when the two characters are facing off against one another and debating their beliefs—that the film is at its most fascinating.
Still, there’s more playing out here—and the film adds flashbacks and glimpses of side stories to fill in the runtime. But it’s in these moments when the film falters. The story of Anna’s unhealthy attachment to her father—and his refusal to accept her long-term relationship with Dorothy Burlingham (Jodi Balfour)—takes up too much of the film’s focus. And, in the end, it feels random and distracted.
Though both stars give strong performances, Freud’s Last Session promises a fascinating debate between two great scholars, only to end up veering far off-course. It has some captivating moments, but it gets lost in its frequent tangents.
You can sit in on the debate when Freud’s Last Session arrives in theaters nationwide on January 12, 2024.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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