Based on the book “The Three Christs of Ypsilanti” by Dr. Milton Rokeach, an empathetic doctor finds three patients who all believe they are Christ and begins to explore their identities altogether, in one room, believing there is a better way to treat and help the mentally ill rather than abiding by the industry standard.
Three Christs begins with Dr. Alan Stone (Richard Gere) recording notes for a trial. Right away, we are alerted that something went wrong, he is accused of or a witness to something terrible, and the film will focus on the mishaps of this study.
In the summer of 1959, Dr. Stone decides to leave his job and begins work at Michigan’s Ypsilanti State Hospital to study paranoid schizophrenics. Rather than using the techniques of his colleagues (electroshock therapy, inducing comas, drugs, and lobotomies), he wants to use group conversations, compassion, and understanding as treatment. This is unheard of and leads to many subplots of deception and manipulation by hospital chief Dr. Orbus (Kevin Pollak) who is skeptical of Dr. Stone’s altruism.
The three patients (Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford) have different and distinct personalities which are the most enthralling and interesting parts of the storytelling. Joseph Cassel (Dinklage) comes from an abusive upbringing and uses escapism to handle and manage the trauma. He uses an English persona to create his Christ and longs to visit England to continue his mission and ministry. Though the script has moving dialogue, it is Dinklage’s subtlety and nuance that make Cassel vulnerable and someone to champion.
While the male characters seem to have a clear motivation, Dr. Stone’s wife, Ruth (Julianna Margulies), does not. She is a brilliant psychiatrist as well, but decided to be a chemistry teacher. It is disheartening that Margulies’ character is so underdeveloped; she is used as a function for Dr. Stone and his brilliance without one of her own. At the beginning of the film, she is seen as a strong, intelligent woman who quotes Freud and has a strong sex drive. By the middle of the film, she is consumed by jealousy and driven to drink because her husband has a young, attractive research assistant (which is how she and Dr. Stone met). This arc does nothing to further the study, or pose a conflict to Gere’s character’s mission. One begins to wonder why she is included in the narrative at all if the story could be told without her.
Although grounded in a historical study that challenged the inhumane treatment of mental illness, Three Christs does not play as a genuine nor thought-provoking film. The rising action and climax are predictable and detract from what could have been a strong message about our human dignity and duty. I wanted the entire film to push my comfort zone, to make me question what archaic, outdated practices are still standard in the 21st century, and then to strive to make them better.
THREE CHRISTS (2020)
Starring Richard Gere, Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford
Directed by Jon Avnet
Written by Jon Avnet and Eric Nazarian
Distributed by IFC Films. 117 minutes.
Now playing at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center.
