Parvinder Udayan
Psychological thrillers have always fascinated people for the mind-bending twist of events. However, among most psycho-thrillers I’ve watched, Primal Fear had a substantial impact in my understanding of psychopathology. The film revolves around the case of murder conspiracy of a Catholic Archbishop in Chicago. The main characters in the film are Aaron Stampler, who is facing a trial for the murder and Martin Vail, the lawyer defending him. In the beginning itself, Aaron is shown to be guilty as he tries to flee the crime scene, entirely covered in blood. However, Martin, who shares a rather elevated view of himself is confident that his ‘version of truth’ can save Aaron.
Aaron is charged with the brutal killing of the local Catholic Archbishop based on the fact that he was running away from the murder scene and carried the Archbishop’s ring in his pocket. Despite all of this, Martin believes that the prosecution of the trial was uncredible. Owing to the humble and shy nature possessed by Aaron, it was hardly possible to imagine him as the real culprit. Over the course of the events, we get to know more about Aaron. Molly, a well-known psychologist, plays an important role while providing an insight of Aaron’s psychological disorder.
During Marty’s meeting with Aaron, Aaron tells that he was present ‘in the room’ when the murder happened but did not commit it. He fails to recollect any memories from around that time as he suffered a ‘blackout’, which was occasional for him. This information forms the base for Molly’s study. She therefore begins interacting with Aaron and finds out that he suffered blackouts since the age of 12. His family’s poor conditions had kept him from undergoing treatment. Everything was completely fine until Molly questioned Aaron about his girlfriend Linda, who had not visited him. Her name evoked a hidden aspect of Aaron’s behaviour. He is seen to be distressed and lashes out at Molly, like an entirely different person. It is moments later when Aaron surfaces back in the picture after a yet another ‘blackout’.
In the meanwhile Martin discovers that the Archbishop was involved in a sex scandal with Aaron, Linda and another altar boy. He speculates that Linda’s involvement in the scandal had provoked Aaron to kill the Archbishop. While confronting him about it, Martin notices that there is a change in Aaron’s persona. His behaviour is similar to what Molly had experienced previously. We learn that Aaron had transformed into Roy, his counter-personality who admits to the killing of the Archbishop. His personality is the exact opposite of Aaron who himself is unaware of Roy’s existence.
Evidently Aaron’s behaviour is influenced by a sudden shift from one personality to another. In such a condition one is oblivious of his other counter-personality. Aaron’s psychological disorder can be traced back to his severe childhood and linked with the falling out of his parents. With what Molly and Martin experienced, it is only right that he should be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Occurrence of such a phenomenon is seen in the developmental stages of a person, generally anxious or submissive in nature. Existence of an alter personality is the result of the person’s inability to deal with his problems. The person unconsciously relies on the alter personality to protect himself.
In the final scene of the film, Aaron’s disorder is revealed in front of the whole courtroom. They witness that Aaron indeed possessed a dual personality when he lashes out openly at the prosecutor of the case. The revelation leads to the indictment that his actions were a result of the psychological disorder he suffered from. He is further sent to a psychiatric hospital for the diagnosis of the disorder.
The case seems to be resolved until Aaron’s final encounter with Martin, when he confesses that every part of his case had been his act of pretension. Infact, Aaron had always intended to escape murder conviction by falsifying facts, and consciously enacting symptoms resembling Dissociative Identity Disorder. Until the very moment of his confession, we are made to believe that the diagnosis of his psychological disorder was indeed the right decision made. But it is only then that we realise that everything has ideally gone wrong. In conclusion, the entire case of the psychological disorder became Aaron’s tool to get away with murder.
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