When Social Justice Becomes Stereotyped Exploitation

Rating: 2/10 (11 November 2019)

The most insulting thing about this movie is that the writers clearly think that they are "bringing awareness" to mental illness, when in fact they are not only exploiting it but providing a grossly inaccurate portrayal of mental illness, ironically even making fun of it despite its shallow criticism of people who make fun of the mentally ill. I don't know exactly what type of mental illness Joaquin Phoenix is trying to mimic here, but there is no existing illness that is remotely similar to this. His acting comes across as somebody who has heard rumors about mentally ill people but never had any exposure to anybody with any form of mental illness. This is a step backwards in Hollywood's effort to capitalize off of stereotypes of "crazy" people, an ignorant, distasteful mockery even exceeding that of Dirty Harry. The fact that this film has received such positive reviews only shows just how far society really is from understanding and accepting mental illness.