Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2012

At its roots, this purported examination of the origins of psychotherapy is the story of a psychiatrist who sleeps with one of his patients, to the displeasure of a father figure. The shrink is Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), the patient (and later collaborator) Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightly, Oscar trolling), and the father figure Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen doing his best work). Horror auteur David Cronenberg takes a more classical and restrained approach here with the horrors of impending chaos and destruction invisible and deep within us and has made a smart, mannered picture. With spanking.