Helen

With the tragic loss from depression of a close family member, Ashley Judd filmed this movie long before the death of her mother. In the movie, her character Helen, suffers from disabling severe depression. The movie does an accurate job of showing how severe depression impacts daily life. Sleeping a lot, negative self talk, little tasks become overwhelming and, wanting to isolate themselves are some of the typical symptoms. It's very hard for someone not familiar with depression to understand how disabling it is. It's hard for someone dealing with severe depression to explain how disabling it is. I would recommend this movie.

As a survivor of severe clinical depression --- yes, it can be a killer --- I had a special interest in this film. I could relate to much of it. Yet I'm not sure I would recommend it to someone in the middle of depression. It is very much a "downer." Indeed my wife's comment was "I don't want to look at it. I've been through it." Having said that it is an extremely well executed film in all regards. Someone without any history of depression might not understand it or might think it exaggerates. To someone like myself, it was all too realistic. To someone in the middle of depression, it could push them over the edge. Clinical depression is right behind heart disease and cancer as a killer except that its victims die of suicide. Certainly anything that focuses attention on it such as this movie is good. In addition to its horror, depression too often is a "closet" disease in which the victim feels hopelessly lonely as was evident here as Helen tries unsuccessfully to fake normalcy. (Been there...done that...) I believe this film can be useful to the family of anyone suffering depression because it illustrates the despair of the victim and the immense stress on family and professional life. But it could be dangerous for the actual victim. But thank you for tackling a subject that too often is taboo.

At first I didn't like this movie a whole lot. As other reviewers have already pointed out, it's merciless in its stereotypical portrayal of people: every character in the movie is a royal jerk except for the 2 depressed people, and it gives the impression that all doctors are cold-hearted sadists, all spouses are selfish psychos, and people in general are totally apathetic.

But hold on...

Then it suddenly dawned on me, duh, that's exactly how one views the world when one is in the throes of depression. I believe it wasn't the filmmakers' intent to make an objective film. I think they were out to show us a somewhat skewed perspective through the eyes of a depressed person. At that, it's very successful.

So yes, this is a depressing movie. It's dark. It's irritating. It makes you feel like the world is a sucky place. But if, for some bizarre reason, you want to know what it's like to be depressed, then this is the movie for you.

I can't say that I "enjoyed" it (I'm no masochist!) but I can say that it's very well made, with excellent acting, effective cinematography (good use of focus & blurring), and a fitting musical score. Just as "Peewee's Big Adventure" takes us into the mind of a manically happy person with its cartoon colours and bouncy pace, "Helen" shows us the opposite side of the coin with its darkness, bleached visuals and monotonous presentation. If you want to know what it's like to be bipolar, I suppose you could watch the 2 movies back to back.

Movies like this: "House of Sand and Fog" (or as I like to call it, "House of Sand and Why Don't We Just Slit Our Wrists and Save Ourselves the DVD Rental Fee") and "Leaving Las Vegas". All of these are excellent films. But wow, hide the sharp metal objects before viewing.

This movie is the best movie I've seen to show all the sides of depression. Most movies focus on the depressed person or the family affected, not both. I have bipolar disorder and this movie can give people a glimpse into what it feels like to experience the horrors of deep depression. Ashley Judd did an amazing job. Also, I was also able to see beyond myself into how it affected my loved ones to see me like that. I knew it was hard on them but in my state was never to see it from their point of view.

I am very active in the mental health community. I teach about disorders, lead support groups, and advocate. I've heard many stories on top of my own experiences and been hospitalized several times. Ashley Judd hits this disorder right on. This is a long movie but it is needed to show the story. Nothing too dramatic or exciting happens so if you are not interested in this topic it could be boring. I however, found myself drawn in by the characters. I would put a warning on this movie. If you are in any state of depression it could be very disturbing to you and could send you over the edge. Don't watch it until you are fully stable. Thank you Sandra Nettlebeck for showing the true story of depression in a Hollywood that tries to glamorize it.

Ashley Judd did a great job portraying Helen, as close to reality as one can get without a narrator adding dialogue to the movie about what Helen was feeling inside. Your brain is on over drive, that's why we sleep so much. We are mentally exhausted from all the thinking, hiding, smiling, pretending. Her episodes mimic depression and many other mental illnesses, General Anxiety Disorder, PTSD, Bipolar 1 and 2, Psychosis, etc. You can read the other reviews for the plot of the movie. But I feel, as an adult woman with bipolar disorder for 40 years now, the film maker should be recognized for her effective methods to reflect back to audience the mood of Helen thru the lighting, the length of the film, the family unaware, the doctors being dismissive. Those things are all very real. That is the state of mental health in this country. We don't educate ourselves about it, so we don't learn coping skills. A lot of families deal with this every day. Helen goes to great lengths to hide her depression in it's early stages, adding anxiety on top of anxiety, which is called kindling. Kindling causes the brain to loose cognitive skills and can lead to psychosis, loss of reality. If you walked out of theatre because it was too hard to watch, imagine waking up every day and knowing this is your life, there is no cure. That's why we kill ourselves, it's not selfish, it's to get out of our pain. Yes the clichés are there, so to that I say if you find yourself suddenly in this predicament, go to an AA meeting, an Al Anon meeting, in order to educate and prepare yourself for this way of life, if it lands at your doorstep. Or don't get educated and walk away, freeing yourself from the darkness. The script for the doctors was not necessarily stereotyped. Most psychiatrist struggle to figure it out because every brain is different, every illness is different. It took 10 years and many traumatic trials to find the right cocktail for me. This movie should be shown the first year of college and then TALKED about with the students. Educate yourself, don't let us suffer in silence.