The film offers a historical overview of how the mentally ill have been treated throughout history and chronicles the progress and missteps made by the medical community along the way. Whittaker recounts the history of psychiatric treatment in America up to 1950, then goes on to describe the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia. He critically summarizes that it is doctors, and not patients, who always calculate the merits of medical care, as “crazy people” continue to be dismissed as unreliable witnesses. When in reality it is the patient being treated and his subjective experience that should come first in the evaluation. The film supports this analysis with interviews with people living vital lives in the city of Geel, Belgium. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in the history of medicine and particularly those dealing with mental illness. It provides a balanced account of historical approaches to mental illness, along with the success stories of the people of Geel, Belgium. And even though I had to look away while watching a lobotomy surgery, I give credit to the power of the footage's visual impact