Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale Of A Writer Who Decided To Write About A Serial Killer Movie Review (2025)

A dark comedy about a writer who becomes entangled with a serial killer, Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer is weird, quirky, and self-aware.

I was not familiar with Britt Lower before watching her in Severance. As the lone female on her team, and without providing spoilers, she has to walk a line of various emotions and intentions. She’s definitely a standout on that show, and I very much looked forward to seeing more of her here.

Psycho Therapy: The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write About a Serial Killer is about writer Keane, a man who has written one semi-successful book and is struggling to write his next one. Approached by a man named Kollmick, who claims to be a former serial killer and wants to be the inspiration for Keane’s next book, Keane introduces Kollmick to his frustrated wife, Suzie, as a marriage counselor.

As you can tell from the title, this odd comedy is in on its own joke. The deadpan humor is very funny and offbeat, with events that you don’t totally see coming and others that you do, but don’t quite go the way you expect.

Starring Hollywood legend Steve Buscemi, Britt Lower, and John Magaro (The Bride!), there is also a small supporting cast, including Sydney Cole Alexander, who is also in the cast of Severance. I have been trying to figure out if there is any crossover (Casting agent? Someone else in common?) between this film and the show, but I can’t find one. If you do, please let me know, I love that stuff.

There are many dryly clever choices in Psycho Therapy, from Keane being completely unaware of Suzie’s streaked makeup (indicating that she’d been crying) to a bartender getting irritated with Keane in Spanish, saying that he can’t understand a word he’s saying, and later telling Keane and Kollmick, in English, that the bar is about to close. There were half a dozen times when I found myself laughing out loud at the absurdist touches, which made the story even more captivating.

Tonally, the film is a little uneven, with a slight tonal change and a lull in the second act. For me, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the film, but I did notice it, and it could have benefited from a bit of tightening.

Overall, though, I had a really good time with this film. The cast is great, the subject matter is unusual, and the story takes some entertaining twists and turns. And as a bonus, the song that Kollmick uses to get in the killing mood is a total banger.

Runtime: 102 minutes

Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated (I would say around PG-13)

Languages Spoken In The Film: English and a bit of Spanish with English subtitles

Should You Watch It? Yes

Did I Cry? Nope

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Available: Free on Prime Video, Tubi, and Roku, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms