This feature documentary profiles four residents of the Brockville Mental Health Centre, a forensic psychiatric hospital for people who have committed violent crimes. Four patients—two men and two women—struggle to gain control over their lives so they can return to a society that often fears and demonizes them. Shrouded in stigma, institutions like this one are places into which patients disappear from public view for years. Four-time Emmy winner John Kastner was granted unprecedented access to the Brockville facility for 18 months, allowing 46 patients and 75 staff to share their experiences with stunning frankness.
Ideal for essays and debates on the justice system and mental health. To what degree is society responsible for criminals with mental illness? How does your opinion of the subjects in this film change as you watch it? Is justice a matter of incarcerating people or rehabilitating them? Research the history of mental health and criminality. How have our perspectives changed over time? How does the filmmaker feel about this institution and its patients? How does he communicate this?