Girl, Interrupted (film)

Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir of the same name.

Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold and based on Susanna Kaysen's 1993 memoir of the same name. The film stars Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen and Angelina Jolie as Lisa Rowe, depicting a young woman's stay in a psychiatric hospital in the late 1960s.

Plot

The film follows Susanna Kaysen, a young woman who enters a psychiatric hospital after a suicide attempt and spends 18 months there. While institutionalized, she forms relationships with other patients and confronts questions of identity, mental illness, and recovery.

Production

Girl, Interrupted was directed by James Mangold and written by Mangold with Lisa Loomer and Anna Hamilton Phelan. It is based on Susanna Kaysen's memoir published in 1993.

Cast

The film features Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen and Angelina Jolie as Lisa Rowe. The ensemble also includes Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Elisabeth Moss, Jared Leto, Jeffrey Tambor, Vanessa Redgrave, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Reception

The film became notable for its performances and its adaptation of Kaysen's memoir. Available sources describe it as a drama centered on mental illness, adolescence, and confinement.