Key Takeaways

• These films explore trauma, grief, addiction, and depression through Black-led stories across different genres and time periods.
• Several entries examine how abuse, rejection, and loss shape characters' mental and emotional well-being.
• The list includes both biographical dramas and fictional narratives that depict therapy, recovery, and personal growth.

Mental health is rarely ever a one-size-fits-all thing. Given the many ways it affects our everyday lives, there’s arguably no better place to see that reflected than in film.

Movies like Precious and Antwone Fisher examine how traumatic experiences, while incredibly difficult, can eventually be worked through. Meanwhile, Bessie and A Journal for Jordan revisit the stories of real-life figures, famous or not, and show how outside forces can affect not only our own mental health but also the people around us.

Below, REVOLT looks back on 12 films that depict mental health through the lens of Black experiences. Take a look below.

1. ‘Precious’

Based on Sapphire’s "Push," Precious follows Claireece "Precious" Jones, a young girl whose home life is the source of nearly all her pain. Constantly abused and torn down by her mother while carrying years of trauma almost entirely on her own — including life on Section 8 and surviving sexual abuse at the hands of her own father — Precious is forced to endure more than anyone her age ever should. However, after transferring to an alternative school, she meets people who help her see that her future could hold more than suffering. It’s both a devastating portrayal of trauma and depression and a moving story about rebuilding self-worth.

2. ‘Magazine Dreams’

In Elijah Bynum’s Magazine Dreams, aspiring bodybuilder Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) devotes himself to achieving a level of greatness most people only dream about — from the outside looking in. Upon closer inspection, though, his pursuit of physical perfection spirals into rage, loneliness, and, perhaps most recognizable within today’s bodybuilding world, struggles with severe body dysmorphia. Majors delivers a hauntingly vulnerable performance that lays bare the dangerous extremes hidden within the quest for being the very best.

3. ‘For Colored Girls’

Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls is nothing short of star-studded. It follows several Black women whose lives collide through abuse, depression, grief, betrayal, and suicidal thoughts. Based on Ntozake Shange’s 1975 choreopoem, the film shows how deeply intertwined mental health and survival are.

4. ‘Bruised’

For her directorial debut, Halle Berry starred as Jackie Justice in Netflix’s Bruised. Between the former UFC fighter navigating alcoholism, panic attacks — which Berry noted in an Instagram post, “11 percent of Americans suffer” — and the pressure of living up to the fighter she once was, the movie shows how mental health affects both her and the people around her, including her son Manny.

Speaking with the Los Angeles Times, Berry explained how her own experiences with domestic violence and growing up with an abusive father informed certain scenes in the movie. “You know, I’ve seen it. But what I also know about these people is they’re not bad people. They’re good people with bad problems,” she said. The actress added that for many people living in inner-city communities, mental health care can feel out of reach because they “can’t afford it” or “don’t believe in it.”

5. ‘Waves’

A24’s Waves gave us one of our all-time favorite Taylor Russell performances. After a Florida high school wrestler’s life spirals — and leads to him accidentally killing his then-pregnant girlfriend — his sister, Emily, is left to carry the grief, setting off a story about guilt, forgiveness, and learning how to live after everything falls apart. Kelvin Harrison Jr., Sterling K. Brown, Alexa Demie, and Renée Elise Goldsberry all deliver incredible performances in the Trey Edward Shults film.

6. ‘Brother to Brother’

As a Black gay man, Perry Williams (Anthony Mackie) is struggling to figure out where he belongs in both the world around him and within himself. After befriending an elderly Harlem Renaissance writer named Bruce Nugent, he begins seeing pieces of himself reflected in someone who survived many of the same emotional battles decades earlier. Anyone who’s ever felt isolated inside their own life will probably see parts of themselves in both men, especially in Brother to Brother's reminder that mental health often depends on feeling understood.

7. ‘Antwone Fisher’

If you’ve already read “Finding Fish,” Denzel Washington’s Antwone Fisher makes a powerful companion piece. The film shows how growing up in unfavorable conditions, surviving child abuse, and carrying years of hurt can completely wreck someone’s mental health. Through its titular character, the biographical drama also reminds us that trauma and the emotions we’ve shoved down for too long don’t have to define the rest of our lives.

8. ‘A Journal for Jordan’

Mentioned in our round-up of Michael B. Jordan’s best acting roles, A Journal for Jordan centers on First Sgt. Charles Monroe King, a soldier who begins writing life lessons and personal reflections for his young son while preparing to deploy overseas. After his death, those same journal entries become a way for his family to process grief and stay connected to someone they’re terrified of forgetting.

9. ‘Juanita’

Juanita hits on just about every element of a starting-over movie: emotional exhaustion, grown kids who still need too much, and one spontaneous bus ride to Montana that reminds her she’s allowed to want something for herself. As you’ve probably noticed by now, a lot of the great films that explore mental health through a Black lens are adaptations of novels. In this case, Juanita was based on Sheila Williams’ “Dancing on the Edge of the Roof.”

10. ‘The Inspection’

Another powerful entry from A24, The Inspection follows a young gay Black man who enlists in the Marines after being rejected by his mother and left with nowhere else to go. Family rejection is already emotional enough, but pair that with the crushing isolation and pressure of trying to prove you deserve to exist in a world that often says you don’t? You better believe we were tearing up.

11. ‘Bessie’

We can’t think of a single Queen Latifah role she hasn't crushed, with Bessie being no exception. The Dee Rees-directed HBO biopic, which takes a closer look at blues legend Bessie Smith’s life, also shows her struggles with alcoholism and depression. Beyond that, the film also focused on the heavy toll that racial prejudice took on her mental health and career.

12. ‘The Woman in the Yard’

The Woman in the Yard explores severe depression, debilitating grief, and suicidal ideation after the sudden death of Ramona’s (Danielle Deadwyler) husband. It’s a psychological horror film, so expect a few scares, too.