Girl, Interrupted

I'm a sucker for movies about menatl people. I don't know what it is, but something just draws me to them. Girl, Interrupted (1999) does justice to the genre, thanks to some brilliant performances from it's interesting ensemble cast.
Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) is a young woman who thinks she is crazy, and puts herself into a mental institution to recover from her so-called illness. At first she is skeptical about living there, but she meets some other women who have interesting stories to tell. This includes Lisa (Angelina Jolie), a woman who has been to the hospital many times before, and when she leaves she is likely to come back again for a while. The two form an unlikely friendship, but Susanna soon realises that she wants to escape from the hospital, but to do that she must find herself.
Girl, Interrupted is based on the memoirs of Susanna Kaysen; I believe her personal voice is spread out through this movie, which adds a sense of realism to something which is a little hard to imagine at the best of times. This whole movie is made by the performances, especially from an Oscar winning Angelina Jolie. Though I have never really been a fan of her work, I couldn't help but be blown away by her amazing portrayal of a woman who seems sure of herself but really isn't. Even Brittany Murphy provides a solid support, which reminds us of what a talent we have lost.
Gripping, unforgettable stuff.
9/10