GROUP: The Schopenhauer Effect

Inspired by Irvin D. Yalom’s novel The Schopenhauer Cure

WATCH THE FILM FREE ONLINE

Limited to 100 viewers

What happens when a newcomer with a hidden motive enters an established psychotherapy group?

This provocative psychological drama takes viewers inside the strange, funny, sometimes uncomfortable and surprisingly intimate world of group therapy. The characters are fictional, but the film was created without a conventional script and features a real psychoanalyst leading the group.  

The group is heightened for dramatic purposes, but the film offers an unusually vivid study of what happens between people in a group.

The film is a follow-up to the YouTube series Group and was a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

Reserve a free spot · 119 minutes

Watch anytime from Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 PM CT through Saturday, November 21 at 7:00 PM CT. 

Register below and you’ll receive a unique Kinema link by email. You can watch the film from home, on your own device, at any time during the viewing window. 

No discussion or group participation is required. Watch the trailer, register, and enjoy the film.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

I’m Zach Bryant, a Nashville psychologist who has led psychotherapy groups for nearly two decades. Group therapy can be difficult to explain because much of its power lies not only in what people discuss, but in what begins happening between them.

Some imagine a support group where everyone takes turns talking about their problems.  Others imagine being forced to share things they don't want to talk about with a room full of strangers.  But a well-led interpersonal therapy group is quite different.

When a group begins working well, people start paying attention not only to what they're talking about, but to what is happening between them. People take risks. They hold back. They get irritated. They laugh. They misunderstand each other. They become attached to one another. And over time, they become more conscious of their emotional experience.

Ideally, they become increasingly able to talk honestly about all of it.

That's difficult to capture on a webpage, but a movie can do something different.

When I learned that this film inspired by Yalom’s work was available for licensed online screenings, I wanted to give more people an opportunity to see it.

Whether you're a longtime group participant, a therapist, a student interested in group work or someone who's drawn to psychologically sharp films about relationships and human behavior, I hope you enjoy the film.

Interested in breaking it down afterward?  I’m also hosting a free Zoom discussion on Thursday, November 19 from 7:00 - 8:30 PM CT. We’ll talk about the strengths and limitations of the film and what actual group psychotherapy can look like. The discussion is limited to 15 participants; registration is first come, first served.

REGISTER FOR THE ZOOM DISCUSSION

You’re also welcome to reach out to me directly if you have questions.  You can reach me at (615) 975-0346 or zacharyebryant@mac.com.