Crazy, Not Insane

"Crazy, Not Insane" (2020 release; 117 min.) is a documentary that takes a closer look at the life and works of noted psychiatrist Dorothy Lewis. As the film opens, she explains why she became interested in examining serial killers: "It's like a chance to interview Hitler". Later on she ponders: "Why don't I murder? why don't you murder?" We then go back in time, as Lewis, upon graduating from the Yale School of Medicine, by happenstance becomes involved with juvenile delinquents, and makes a startling discovery that shows a physical difference in the brains of homicidal vs. non-homicidal delinquents... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest film from long-time documentarian Alex Gibney, who just recently released the excellent "Agents of Chaos", and whose prior work also includes 2013's "The Armstrong Lie" and 2015's "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief", among many others. Here he takes a closer look at the (for some: groundbreaking, for others: controversial) work by Dorothy Lewis in the filed of understanding what makes serial killers do what they do. The documentary takes a good half hour to really get going, but after that, we are knee-deep into the core issue: do you accept/believe in the concept of multiple personality disorder, also known as dissociative identity disorder, or not? There are plenty of video clips from Lewis' work in the late 80s-early 90s when Lewis came to the forefront of this issue. It makes for at times fascinating viewing, and while it is pretty clear where Gibney stands in all of this, he gives plenty of space to both sides of the argument. I must say that, given Gibney's considerable reputation as one of the premier documentarians of this generation, I had expected something more, and that this does not rank among his very best work. Not that I think that "Crazy, Not Insane" is "bad" or anything. It's just not a heavyweight like some of his best documentaries.

"Crazy, Not Insane" was scheduled to premier at this year's SXSW festival in March. Then a little thing call COVID-19 changed the world as we know it (SXSW was canceled). The movie finally premiered at this year's Venice Film Festival in September, and started showing on HBO earlier this week. It is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming services. If you are a fan of Alex Gibney's work or simply are interested in catching a true crime-reminding documentary, I'd readily suggest you check this out on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

I think most reasonably intelligent people realize that some of the most sadistic, unempathetic, sociopathic criminals in our midst come from awful backgrounds, dysfunctional families, abuse, and trauma. The credibility of this program's assertions quickly ends there.

The program proceeds to document two academic psychotherapists being led around by the nose by some of the most manipulative personalities known, psychopathic sexual sadists and murderers. Murders who repeatedly and conveniently evidence, for the first time, multiple personality disorders, when interviewed by these two. Performances which are encouraged and almost welcomed with glee. If you want to watch something that will strip you of any faith you might have in defense "experts," watch this. This is the definition of confirmation bias in quasi-science.

Purely an "anti death penalty" movie based on the notion that ALL murderers are brain damaged or have multiple personality/dissociative identity disorder. A lot of it is just pure BS based in nothing close to real science.

This documentary provided little insight into the study of the disassociative mind but rather highlighted Dr. Lewis's view of her most spectacular interactions with famous murderers. The documentary managed to turn a fascinating subject into a 😴.

Like many of the other reviewers, I sense the Dr. has blinders on. We are shown only those murderers who tend to support her assumption of multiple personality. Yes, it would be nice to have seen some critical analysis, but this was a documentary, not a double-blind experiment. One should expect to see primarily one view. If you're like me, you can understand that, and be impressed by the access she had to some seriously crazy (insane? evil?) people.