Showing posts with label existential angst. Show all posts
Showing posts with label existential angst. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Videotherapy - I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore

Jean Paul Sartre, the existential philosopher, said, "Hell is other people." I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore is a 93 minute film which takes this theme and runs with it.

When Ruth, a 30 something, single Nursing Assistant's home is burglarized, her depression deepens with her sense of violation which morphs into anger about "not wanting people to be assholes " and she wants her stuff back.

The story then kind of careens through a series of attempts to make things right.

Ruth recruits a socially awkward single neighbor, Tony, as her "back - up" as she goes on her quest to track down the burglar(s) and her things.

The story is told in ways that are comedic and grizzly.

The creative tension is developed between Ruth's righteous indignation and the selfish, greedy, exploitative behavior of her fellow human beings. It is a conflict that most of us can identify with, on the one hand being angry and repulsed by the behavior of our fellow human beings and our desire to love them and be at peace when things are more just.

Ruth's assertiveness in channeling her anger into making things right is to be admired. There is a slogan in psychology that "you can be mad or sad." When working with client's of mine who are depressed, I often observe their moving from sad to mad as a step in the direction of health. When people say, "Gosh darn it, I'm not taking this any more! I'm going to do something about it to make things right!" I am reassured that the person is on the track to make the world a better place.

I recommend "I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore." I give it a 4 on my 5 point scale.

For more from IMDB click here.

"I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore" is on Netflix streaming.