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
BROADWAYINDETROIT.COM

