FEBRUARY 1 • 2024 | 49

also worth mentioning that
although the meeting between
Freud and Lewis is fictional,
the movie credits indicate
speculation that Freud was
visited just before his death by
an Oxford don (who might

have been Lewis).
By the way, neither side of
the argument is persuasive.
Fear of death is natural. But it
hardly disproves the existence
of God. One can be both fearful
and faithful. And the notion
that belief in God is based on
an adolescent need is no more
than an opinion.
On the other hand, Lewis
offers no more sophistication
than Freud. In response to
Freud’s conclusion that pain
and suffering, as well as the
evils of the world such as Hitler,
disproves the existence of God,
Lewis can only offer the rebuttal
that people are the cause of
their own suffering. In the
name of God, Lewis seems to
blame the victim.
The title of Freud’s
Last Session is a bit of a
misnomer as the encounter

is more argumentative than
psychoanalytical. But it is a
powerful movie, a presentation
of two contrary philosophies,
neither of which can easily
be dismissed. Perhaps more
compelling about the movie is
how it manages to present two
opposite and towering intellects

in a very human light.
Freud might not be right to
insist we are all cowards. But
Freud’s Last Session succeeds in
reminding the viewer that we
are all mortal.

Freud’s Last Session is now in movie

theaters, including the Maple Theater.

ABOVE & FACING PAGE: Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode as
Freud and Lewis in Sony Pictures Freud’s Last Session.

APRIL 23-28 • FISHER THEATRE
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