On the following two pages, I discuss influential research on depictions of mental illness in film and how these portrayals have impact the public, individuals with mental illness, and health care professionals. There is more research on the negative impacts, however, some authors discuss potential positive impacts films about mental illness can have. I think it is important to take a holistic view and weight the positive and negative effects of mental illness depictions. On the first page, I outline research conducted on the topic since 2000. On the second page, I discuss the implications of this research and how it should be used moving forward.