1. Revolution No 9 (2001)
If you want to get a glimpse of how a normal person can descend into the depths of paranoid schizophrenia then this film will show you all you need to know. It is utterly terrifying in that it shows us how any man or woman can be affected by the disease at any time in their lives. It is a masterclass on what low budget, independent film making can achieve to make a powerful affecting movie. The film depicts Michael Risley's trauma of going from being a normal guy with a long time girlfriend, a good job and generally he has his life together. He begins to get paranoid - his co workers are messing around with his desk and this line of thinking carries on until he begins seeing subliminal messages on the television and comes to believe that a TV advert is plotting his downfall. The ending is so sad, I cried my eyes out. Extremely realistic in recreating the things that the mentally ill are subjected to - horrible, crappy hospitalisations with uncaring staff and demeaning treatment, total fear, bewilderment and alienation from loved ones - Revolution No 9 is terrifying. There's no sexy Beatrice Dalle or Blanche DuBois who can always depend on the kindness of strangers. This is raw, realistic and an accurate assessment of what madness does to a person. Not seen or recognised by many people, Revolution No 9 is probably the best portrayal of schizophrenia that I have seen due to its verisimilitude. Harrowing but a tour de force.