Labyrinth (1959)

Georgia Gale is young, beautiful, intelligent … and she drinks. After a series of severe crises, she has begun reaching for the bottle uncontrollably and now risks falling into alcoholism, which seems to run in her family. To receive psychotherapy as well, she admits herself to a luxurious sanatorium in Switzerland. It is the domain of chief physician Dr. de Lattre, but she is unable to develop the deep trust in him that is absolutely essential for the therapy to succeed. For this reason, she is also unwilling to open up about her innermost feelings. This makes it impossible to investigate the cause of her narcissistic nature and the reason for her decline. Georgia continues to play a part here, deceiving herself, flirting with an ostensible longing for death, and taking refuge in a sudden religious fervor. She trusts only Ron Stevens, a fellow patient also being treated at the private sanatorium, and forms a connection with him. Then an event occurs that finally begins to shake the inner walls of Georgia’s walled-off self: the young patient Marjorie, who is inclined to nymphomania and whom Georgia has rejected when she makes a pass at her, then kills herself in front of Georgia. Deeply shocked, Georgia begins to understand that a fulfilling life requires purpose and responsibility. She no longer wants to shut herself off from therapeutic healing, which could promise an escape from the life she has led so far. After her successful treatment, the beautiful patient leaves the clinic, firmly resolved to begin a new life.