Sybil

Sybil (1976) HBO Made For Television Movie.
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Details -
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Director: Daniel Petrie
Writers: Flora Rheta Schreiber (book), Stewart Stern (teleplay)
Production Co: Lorimar Productions
Release Date: 14 November 1976 (USA)
Duration: 198 mins (Television), 187 min (DVD version)
Genres: Biography | Drama

Cast -
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Joanne Woodward ... Dr. Cornelia Wilbur
Sally Field ... Sybil
Brad Davis ... Richard

Caution -
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The movie deals with a hard subject and has some pretty disturbing scenes. This movie is definitely not for people with weak hearts, mothers raising small children and anyone who minds what is happening on screen, as it may result into a deep and permanent impact on your dark side within.

Synopsis -
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This is a true story of a woman named Sybil, who suffered from dissociative identity disorder and her relationship with her doctor who spent 11 long years in psychoanalysis of close to 16 different personalities which Sybil had developed.

Detail Review -
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How does one survive a terrible child abuse that too carried out by one's own mother. The movie shows journey of Sybil who is trying not only to survive but to overcome the deep impact of child abuse she received from her mother and find the real identity for herself. Dr. Wilbur helps her unveil her own self between 16 different personalities which Sybil has developed.

Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, who is also the narrator of the entire movie, finds Sybil in an emergency room of a New York hospital after she put her hand through a window. Sybil wakes up from the shock and is unable to recall how and when she came to the hospital. Thus starts the journey of these two women into Sybil's past where they find out what happened to Sybil, as Dr. Wilbur, "produce such a shattering," which led to Sybil's developing sixteen distinct personalities, all of which share Sybil's mind and body.

The drama also revolves around people who come in contact with Sybil and actually interact with one of the personalities possessing Sybil at that instance. The way Sybil switches from one personality to another and back to the original one is shown very well on screen. All the reactions from people are worth watching and in some scenes even we have to guess as viewers what Sybil is playing at that moment.
Dr. Wilbur realizes that finding the root cause of Sybil's problem was just a beginning and shows tremendous patience and dedication towards approaching Sybil's case. Slowly Dr. Wilbur gains enough confidence from most of Sybil's personalities and she is the only one allowed to take pictures of them.
Some small details in the movie like scene with Dr. Quinoness (where he elaborates Sybil's abusive injuries) and scene with Grandma Dorsett (who is more of a prisoner in Sybil's mother's house) are really horrifying and leaves a great impact on viewers.

Hats off to both the ladies who acted or rather I would say lived the roles of Sybil and Dr. Wilbur, they both surely are really underrated actresses.

In the end "Sybil" raises more questions than it answers, that's fine, they're brutally important questions.