Say you’re a therapist. And say your patient tells you, “I have a compulsion to kill people.” And say that information is conveyed after you’ve been kidnapped to some unknown basement location and chained to a bed. “The Patient” looks at what happens when the power dynamic between therapist and patient becomes completely upended.
Steve Carell plays Dr. Alan Strauss, a bearded and becardiganed widower. Domhnall Gleeson is his patient, a lanky guy named Sam Fortner, who is full of roiling thoughts and unpredictable energy. Too nervous to share the true nature of his problems in Alan’s office, Sam decides that abducting his therapist and having sessions on his turf, and at his convenience, is an idea that will work.
Does this sound like an idea that will work?
