Freud's Last Session

(M) ★★★

Director: Matthew Brown.

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode, Liv Lisa Fries, Jodi Balfour, Orla Brady.

"Touch The Box & Stare At The Floor" was a very popular old-timey game.

This piece of revisionist history asks a curious question: if psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud got together with author C. S. Lewis, what would they talk about?

It's not a question most people ever considered, but it was the premise of Armand Nicholi's book The Question of God, which in turn formed the basis of Mark St Germain's play Freud's Last Session, which is the source of this film. So there's at least two people who had given this hypothetical some thought.

So what would they talk about? The answer, according to this talkfest, is God. The film pits Freud's atheism and wit against Lewis' Christianity and heart. While they chat, Germany invades Poland, and Freud's daughter Anna struggles to break free of her father's psychological grip on her.

The main reason to see Freud's Last Session is for Hopkins, who churns out amazing performances with regularity and shows no sign of slowing down at 86. His Freud is at the end of his life, but his spark and intelligence remain as bright as ever. It's a performance that shifts in a heartbeat from fiery to funny, and Hopkins does a magnificent job of capturing the humanity and hubris of the famed psychoanalyst. His Austrian accent may be wonky, but his skills as an actor are not.

Opposite him, and more than holding his own, is Goode. It must be daunting to go head-to-head with Hopkins at the best of times, let alone in a role that Hopkins once played (he was C. S. Lewis in Shadowlands back in 1993). But Goode is solid, ensuring his Lewis is just as human and full of inconsistencies as Hopkin's Freud.

The script helps to ensure both characters get an equal arsenal in their battle of wits, but it's too timid to pick a winner. The film spins in circles as each takes it in turns to get the upperhand in this stagy talkfest, which is fine, but there's no real plotline to pull us through. Parts of the debate are interesting, but without any stakes, development, growth, story, or revelations, the movie fizzles out by its ending. The subplots of the war and Anna Freud (played with fire and passion by Fries) are intriguing but occasionally intrude into the flow of proceedings. 

These aren't deal-breakers though. The film is predominantly a well-acted conversation, and for the most part that works. The Godfather of Psychoanalysis and the Creator of Narnia certainly make for an interesting last session.