Louis Theroux: By Reason of Insanity

2015
Louis Theroux: By Reason of Insanity

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Part 1 Mar 22, 2015

Louis spends time with patients attempting to come to terms with their crimes and the clinicians entrusted with helping to make them safe. And he investigates the difficult question - when is a patient with a serious crime in their past ready to be returned to the outside world?

EP2 Part 2 Mar 29, 2015

Louis spends time with patients whose personalities are so intertwined with their illness that it makes them more difficult to treat. In doing so, he examines the grey area between criminal actions and medical symptoms, and investigates how we define insanity.
7.6| 0h30m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 22 March 2015 Ended
Producted By: BBC
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pc0gl
Synopsis

Louis immerses himself in the world of Ohio's state psychiatric hospitals, meeting patients who have committed crimes - at times horrifically violent - while in the grip of severe mental illness.

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Reviews

bob the moo Louis Theroux does not always seem sincere in what he does; he plays the innocent abroad very well – even when he is basically feeding a ropes to his subjects to let them go the hanging themselves. In this documentary he does play his neutral self, but he does so to good effect rather than to trick or trap. In doing this the 2-part documentary treats its subjects with respect – even when what they say has scope for mockery or comedy (such as the reason for someone driving recklessly).In doing this he lets the subject speak for itself, and it is a chilling subject. The wider question of what is to be done, what defines insanity, and the treatment of those involved, all sit behind an array of characters who range from the eccentric to the chilling. The documentary gives them time and is not shy about what crimes they had committed; it is a tough watch in many ways as one thinks of the lives affected – both perpetrator and victims. Theroux explores the subject really well; he doesn't push anyone even when he is asking them tough questions – he does have a knack for getting people to open up as he does here.It is a little unsatisfying in the way in which doesn't provide a great sense of closure – but then to be fair, the point is that there are no easy answers to any of it.