Richard Gere stars in approximately one film every presidential administration, so seeing him pop up in a new trailer is reason to get excited. (Unless, of course, that trailer is for Movie 43.) IFC Films just unveiled a trailer for their upcoming drama Three Christs, featuring an all-star cast including Gere, Peter Dinklage, Walton Goggins, Bradley Whitford, and Julianna Margulies.
The film, which is based on a true story, follows Dr. Alan Stone (Gere), a psychiatrist in the 1950s who rejected the treatment of schizophrenia with draconian practices like electroshock therapy and confinement. From the official press release:
“As his first study, he takes on the particularly challenging case of three men—Joseph (Peter Dinklage), Leon (WaltonGoggins), and Clyde (Bradley Whitford)—each of whom believes they are Jesus Christ. Hoping that by getting them together in the same room to confront their delusions he can break through to them, Dr. Stone begins a risky, unprecedented experiment that will push the boundaries of psychiatric medicine and leave everyone involved—including Dr. Stone himself—profoundly changed.”
The real-life case, based on the book The Three Christs of Ypsilanti, was highly controversial. The author, Milton Rokeach, later apologized for his experiment, saying, “I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere round the clock with their daily lives.” It’ll be interesting to see how the film adaptation handles the more questionable aspects of the study.
