A Dangerous Method

David Cronenberg's perverse spin on the troubled relationship between Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) and his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) isn't a thriller per se, but there's chilly intellectual word play by screenwriter Christopher Hampton and an underlying tension and creepiness that is pure Cronenberg. After a deeply troubled patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) becomes Jung's star pupil and subsequent lover, Freud's disapproval of Jung's behavior ruptures their long friendship. Knightley's sensuality is pretty extraordinary in this difficult role and Vincent Cassel has a scene-stealing cameo as a radical psychoanalyst.