Exam: A Movie Analysis

Johann Gabriel D. Tantoco, S.N.

I.

Introduction
The film Exam depicts the happenings on probably the most important day in the
lives of eight job candidates who would do anything just to land the position they
so wanted in a huge company that apparently none of them know about except
one. It is said that the worst job with them beats the best anyone could offer.
However, on the final and defining day of their long and hard application process,
all of them are given a one last final test. And that includes being in a room
accompanied by a guard for eighty minutes, given only a piece of paper with their
numbers on it, to answer one question with one single answer. They are not
allowed to communicate with the guard nor the invigilator, spoil their paper, nor
leave the room for any reason. This completely vague and mind-blowing situation
has brought them to great extents from synergy to attempting to murder one
another.

II.

Case Discussion
A Caucasian man, codenamed White, is one of the job candidates and has
narcissistic personality disorder. According to Dark, a female job candidate who
is apparently a psychologist, there are nine traits to lookout for in a person for the
diagnosis of the condition; Has a grandiose sense of self-importance.; Is
preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or
ideal love; Believes that he or she is special and unique and can only be
understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or
institutions).; Requires excessive admiration.; Has a sense of entitlement.;
Is inter-personally exploitative.; Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or
identify with the feelings and needs of others.; Is often envious of others or
believes that others are envious of him or her.; Shows arrogant, haughty

behaviors or attitudes. By my assessment, all of which are possessed by White in

the movie.

III.

Conclusion
I would have to say that I am quite pleased with the film especially due to the fact
that I personally admire plots that include higher reasoning and deductive skills.
In relation to my psychiatric nursing course as a student nurse, this movie has
clearly helped to make more vivid to me the works of the human mind and the
problems and disorders that go with it. The story in itself is already beyond
interesting and mind-challenging. However, the caliber of the casts performances
and the quality of the direction and cinematography was just the icing and cherry
to the already delicious cake. Its clearly not the type that every person could
comprehend and relate to, but it surely is a great piece of work according to my
senses.

A Beautiful Mind: A Movie Analysis

Johann Gabriel D. Tantoco, S.N.

I.

Introduction
A Beautiful Mind is a film portraying the story of a young mathematician named
John Nash who strived his way at Princeton, along with his British Literature-major
roommate, against academic pressures and his difficulty of fitting into the society.
However, out of his own genius and intellect, he excelled as a student and went
on to become a great mathematician and mathematics professor. He has worked
for huge agencies such as the Pentagon to crack ciphers that would save the
country from destruction until he met a man that brought him to decipher even
more codes, consuming him and sucking him into his world. Everything was until
he was diagnosed of schizophrenia, only to realize that his roommate back in
college and the mysterious man hes been working for were all just made up by
his mind due to his condition.

II.

Case Discussion
The main protagonist of the film, John Nash, is a genius mathematician who
suffered from a psychiatric disease Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental
disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand
reality. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking,
hearing voices, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack
of motivation. People often have additional mental health problems such as
anxiety disorders, major depressive illness or substance use disorder. Symptoms
typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and last a long time. All of
which can be seen in John Nash, evident by his difficulty in engaging with the

people around him, his weird and uncommon ways, and his hallucination of his
roommate and his employer.

III.

Conclusion
A Beautiful Mind is one of those films that take its viewers by surprise with
unbelievable plot twists and shift of events. The greatness of the movie is how it
presents a grave and seemingly hopeless conflict between the protagonist and
the people around him, his disease, and himself, and yet still concludes the story
with hope fueled by Johns love for his wife and his winning of a Nobel prize award
for his truly tremendous lifes work despite his condition. As a student nurse, I
would have to say that the film made me understand more clearly how
schizophrenia manifests in a patient and how a patient with this disease perceives
the world.