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One thing that annoys me is long titles of movies, like the full title of this movie, Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write about a Serial Killer. I’m just going to refer to it by the first two words from now on.
We got sent a screener for this a while ago, and it has a good cast: Steve Buscemi, Britt Lower, John Magaro, Sydney Cole Alexander, Ward Horton, and Jacob Ming-Trent. Buscemi is one of those actors who’s a tick of approval.
Tolga Karacelik is the writer and director.
The Story
The story for Psycho Therapy is clever:
A writer in a creative crisis befriends a retired serial killer, who becomes his marriage therapist and consultant for a new book. But his wife begins to suspect she might be a target.
We open 40,000 years ago in Lithuania, just as you’d expect. Basically, Keane (Magaro) is a writer, and this opening was his newest story. It turns out, he got lucky with his first book, and can’t seem to find something for a new book.
In steps Kollmick (Buscemi), as he introduces himself to Keane. Kollmick has an idea for a new book: how about a life story of a serial killer? Yep, typecast Buscemi is the serial killer, but he keeps that to himself.
Keane thinks it might be a good idea and starts to listen to Kollmick. The main problem is that Suzie (Lower), Keane’s wife. She’s not sure what’s going on, so Kollmick suggests that he’s a marriage counsellor.
The rest of the story is a dark comedy about how Suzi thinks her husband is a serial killer, while her and Keane are getting ‘counselling’ from a real serial killer. I haven’t spoiled too much of the story; there’s more to it, and it is well done.
The Cast
As I said, you can’t help but like Buscemi and, as I said, he’s typecast as a serial killer, but if it ain’t broke. He is really good in Psycho Therapy, balancing a serial killer and someone trying his best not to be found out as a serial killer.
He does this to perfection, and his casting is spot on. There’s a subtle hint of humour in him, but it’s dark and still funny.
Magaro as Keane is very good. He is intrigued by Kollmick, but at the same time, terrified of him as he finds out his ‘story’ is real. Again, this is a dark comedy, and the subtle comedy is funny.
It’s always nice to Lower, and again, she’s just as good here. That comes with a ‘however’, though. I’m not spoiling the story, but she does come off a little ‘girl bossy’ towards the end, but I found it forgivable, mainly because I was having fun with the story.
Overall
There isn’t much more to break down for Psycho Therapy; it’s just a good story, with a great cast. It’s dark, it’s funny, and it’s one of those rarities, well-written. Again, not perfect, but a step up from most movies these days.
I did think, given it’s stupidly long title, it would have been more comical, but it was more subtle than that. Some of the laughs you have to earn, as they aren’t just slapping you in the face. Again, this made a refreshing change.
This movie came out of nowhere for me, and I knew nothing going in. I have explained the plot, but as I said, there’s far more to it. Psycho Therapy is a great little dark comedy, to chill to for a couple of hours.
I know that’s not a screaming endorsement, but trying to find something good these days is hard work. Something like Psycho Therapy is an easy watch, with a well-planned script and cast you can invest in. There’s better out there, but there’s also a lot worse out there, too.
I’m giving Psycho Therapy a solid 3.5 out of 5. It is wroth a viewing and I would watch it again.
Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write about a Serial Killer is now on digital.
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