History Film / ADangerousMethod

* SingleIssuePsychology: {{Lampshaded}}. While Sabina's therapy reveals a sexual trauma is the root of her masochism, Jung criticizes Freud for being so obsessed with sex as the root of all human psychology.
* SlaveToPR: Freud is wary of Jung's parapsychological approach before any preliminary evaluation is done because it will be used as a weapon by their detractors, who are eager to discredit Freud as a wacko. In his interactions with Sabina however, he confirms that his real reasons was that he really did disagree with Jung's mystical turn because it offended his atheistic secular approach and moreover he felt was reinforcing the problem rather than fixing it.

* TricksterMentor: Otto Gross. While nominally, he is Jung's patient, Otto's conversations with the doctor help shape Jung's attitude and philosophy.

* VirginTension: with Sabina.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: It deals with the breakdown in the friendship between Freud and Jung. When they first met, the two of them spent 13 hours talking non-stop, and traveled on boats together for leisure activity. By the end, they are no longer on speaking terms and exchange vitriolic StronglyWordedLetter about how much either one of them is a BrokenPedestal for the other.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending explains the characters' ultimate fates. [[DownerEnding Otto died of starvation in Berlin in 1920; Freud was driven out of Austria by the Nazis and later died in 1939 of cancer, an exile in London; Sabina was executed by Nazis during the invasion on Rostov-on-Don]]; and Jung ultimately came out of his experiences changed for the better, becoming one of the most respected psychologists of his time for as long as he lived, eventually dying peacefully in 1961.
* WordAssociationTest: Performed by Jung with Emma as a subject and Sabina as an assistant and an interpreter.

* PsychoPsychologist: Subverted with Sabina, played straight with Otto. When Sabina mentions her ambition to be a therapist, Jung approves, saying "We need insane doctors. Sane ones are so limited." Otto, on the other hand, sleeps with all of his patients and encourages suicide if he deems it an appropriate solution.
* RuleOfSymbolism: take a look at Freud when he asks Jung about Sabina's virginity.

* FreudianCouch: Averted. Strangely, never makes an appearance. Everyone conducts their therapy while seated upright. We actually do get a glimpse of Freud's famous couch when Jung comes into his office but he doesn't sit on it.

* TheHedonist: Otto Gross, who never repress any urges and advocates for the opposite, serving as TheCorrupter for Jung.

* UsefulNotes/IdSuperegoAndEgo: an interesting case - the simplest interpretation is to identify Jung with Ego, Emma with Superego and Sabina with Id, but Freud also has a traces of Superego (in reference to Jung's Ego) in him.

--> '''Sabina''': There's...there's no hope for me. I'm vile... and... filthy and... corrupt. I must... I must never be let out of here.

** Freud returns to this theme later on when he and Sabina interact and discuss her past with Jung:
--> '''Sigmund Freud''': Don't put any trust in the aryans. We are Jews, Miss Spielrein, and Jews we shall always remain."

* LighterAndSofter: One of Creator/DavidCronenberg's most mainstream films, notably lacking the BodyHorror and extreme violence of his other movies.

* {{Biopic}}: A simultaneous one for Jung, Spielrein and Freud. The film covers 12 years of Jung's life but touches on most of the arcs of his biography, while also dealing with Spielrein's early career as an apprentice and Freud in the middle of his career, searching for an apprentice.

* BrokenPedestal: Freud and Jung gradually become one for each other. Jung laments that his master is seeking [[BlindObedience obedient]] disciples rather than colleagues, while Freud feels that Jung is DramaticallyMissingThePoint of psychoanalysis by bringing in mysticism and superstition when he wants it to be a legitimate science. Freud also deplores Jung's treatment of Spielrein and him lying to him about in letters.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Dr. Otto Gross - a neurotic kleptomaniac who is considered to be one of the best in his field by Freud himself.
* CharacterDevelopment: Jung and Sabina, in particular, grow to be very complex characters.

* EternalSexualFreedom: All the shrinks are interested in sex and whether it can provide a path to freedom:
** Otto Gross believes in no repression whatsoever and believes that all of social mores, middle-class values, norms, professional code of ethics which forbid such relations are there to be broken.
** Sabina Spielrein later summarizes the contents of her famous paper (renowned for introducing the concept of the "death drive") where she notes that since sexuality depends so much on contact with other people, it can harm the ego and that an activity so pleasurable can at the same time provoke resistance and aversion. So more or less, not happening.
* FigureItOutYourself: This is what psychoanalysis should ideally be concerned with as far as Freud is concerned. Helping people understand themselves and giving them space to help them find themselves. Freud disagrees with Jung who wants to help people by telling them what to do which Freud sees as "playing God" and replacing one delusion with another.

Jung, an up and coming Swiss doctor, is working at a sanatorium when he begins to treat a certain Sabina Spielrein. Sabina, a Russian Jew, is hysterical, and Jung decides to try the "talking cure" being popularized by Freud in Vienna. The treatment proves successful, and Sabina returns to medical school, staying in contact with Jung. The two develop a romantic relationship, with Jung dissatisfied with his marriage to a young Swiss heiress. Their affair is intellectual (exploring Jung's fascination with memes and classic archetypes) and sexual (exploring Sabina's masochism in a consensual environment). Eventually, the guilt of his infidelity overwhelms Jung (as well as rumors revealing its existence to the public), and he ends the affair despite Sabina's vehement opposition. Eventually, the two reconcile and re-initiate their affair, but this time, Sabina breaks it off to go work in Vienna with Freud.

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: Freud corrects Jung on the name of the method, it's pronounced PSYCHO-analisis.

* WomanInWhite: Sabina, Emma, and most other women in the film.

Meanwhile, Jung and Freud begin a correspondence. While impressed with Freud, Jung has reservations about his rigidly sexual approach to the human psyche. Freud brands Jung his successor and heir, reinforcing the paternalistic relationship. The two collaborate but continue to grow apart for a variety of reasons: Jung denies that all psychology is sexual and final, while Freud denounces Jung's interest in non-traditional venues of psychological study, which he calls "mystical nonsense." The two also chafe at their sociopolitical differences; Freud an Austrian Jew with little expendable income, and Jung a wealthy Swiss Protestant. This is all complicated by Jung's affair with Sabina; the young woman turns to Freud after their affair ends, and Jung feels betrayed, convinced she has chosen Freud's interpretation of psychoanalysis over his.

--> '''Sigmund Freud''': Don't put any trust in the aryans, Miss Spielrein. Never forget that we are Jews.

* FreudWasRight: Part of the crux is the in-universe dispute whether he is or not. At least he was right in Sabina's case, concerning the sexual roots of her hysteria. David Cronenberg and Mortensen have stated that they are totally pro-Freud and believe that he was in the right.

* SlaveToPR: Freud is wary of Jung's parapsychological approach before any preliminary evaluation is done because it will be used as a weapon by their detractors, who are eager to discredit Freud as a wacko.

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending explains the characters' ultimate fates. Otto died of starvation in Berlin in 1920; Freud was driven out of Austria by the Nazis and later died in 1939 of cancer, an exile in London; Sabina was executed by Nazis during the invasion on Rostov-on-Don; and Jung ultimately came out of his experiences changed for the better, becoming one of the most respected psychologists of his time for as long as he lived, eventually dying peacefully in 1961.

* {{Biopic}}: The film only covers 12 years of Jung's life but touches on most of the arcs of his biography.

* BrokenPedestal: Freud gradually becomes one for Jung, who laments that his master is seeking [[BlindObedience obedient]] disciples rather than colleagues.

* CarlJung: The film portrays him as a conflicted figure, if ultimately correct.

* TheEdwardianEra
* EternalSexualFreedom: Subverted. While Jung's conversations with Otto Gross about monogamy are radical, they are treated as such.

* FreudianCouch: Averted. Strangely, never makes an appearance. Everyone conducts their therapy while seated upright.

* NippleAndDimed

* UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud: The film plays up Freud's paternalistic and paranoid tendencies, portraying him as a sort of passive-aggressive antagonist.

* FreudWasRight: Part of the crux is the in-universe dispute whether he is or not. At least he was right in Sabina's case, concerning the sexual roots of her hysteria.
** WordOfGod, David Cronenberg and Mortensen have stated that they are totally pro-Freud and believe that he was in the right.

Jung, an up-and-coming Swiss doctor, is working at a sanatorium when he begins to treat a certain Sabina Spielrein. Sabina, a Russian Jew, is hysterical, and Jung decides to try the "talking cure" being popularized by Freud in Vienna. The treatment proves successful, and Sabina returns to medical school, staying in contact with Jung. The two develop a romantic relationship, with Jung dissatisfied with his marriage to a young Swiss heiress. Their affair is intellectual (exploring Jung's fascination with memes and classic archetypes) and sexual (exploring Sabina's masochism in a consensual environment). Eventually, the guilt of his infidelity overwhelms Jung (as well as rumors revealing its existence to the public), and he ends the affair despite Sabina's vehement opposition. Eventually, the two reconcile and re-initiate their affair, but this time, Sabina breaks it off to go work in Vienna with Freud.

* SexAsARiteOfPassage: [[spoiler:Sabina.]]

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The ending explains the characters' ultimate fates. Otto died of starvation in Berlin in 1920; Freud was driven out of Austria by the Nazis and later died in 1939 of cancer, an exile in London; Sabina was executed by Nazis during the invasion on Rostov-on-Don; and Jung ultimately came out of his experiences changed for the better, becoming one of the most respected psychologists of his time for as long as he lived.

* TheLastTemptation: Subverted, in that Jung makes the plunge.

* ItsPronouncedTroPay: Freud corrects Jung on the name of the method, it's pronounced PSYCHO-analisis.