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Completed - ENGLISH - Drama, Biography - 115 minutes

Log Line

This is a fact-based drama about a mentally ill woman fighting the powerful psychiatric establishment for greater self-control, and the lawyer who becomes her champion and friend.

Previous markets

  • Toronto 2017 (Line up)
Full history

Synopsis

Colette Hughes (Swank) is a San Francisco patients' rights lawyer fighting an uphill battle against a powerful psychiatric establishment unwilling to cede its ability to medicate patients whenever and however it wants. Colette and her mentor, Mort Cohen (Tambor), agree to represent Eleanor Riese (Bonham Carter), an eccentric but disarmingly wise woman who claims she and others in the same hospital were medicated excessively and against their will.

It isn't that Eleanor refuses meds; she is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and requires pharmaceuticals to retain her independence. Rather, she demands the right to give informed consent. Meeting fierce resistance at every step, Eleanor's legal team fight tooth and nail for their client's well-being. In Eleanor, Colette gains a new friend who enters like a whirlwind, challenging her to tend to her own welfare — and ultimately changing her life.

Production

Country(ies) : GERMANY, BELGIUM

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Festivals and Awards

Toronto - TIFF 2017 Gala Presentations


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