Charlie Kaufman’s movies are radical therapy

polygon.com:

When Spike Jonze’s oddball fantasy movie Being John Malkovich was first released back in 1999, people weren’t sure what to make of it. While the film was well-received, garnering praise for its “endearingly nutty” and “brilliantly inventive” writing, it also left viewers confused about what to make of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, at the time known solely for his work on TV comedies like The Edge and The Dana Carvey Show.

Since Being John Malkovich’s release, Kaufman has continued to baffle and impress viewers, as every movie he writes or directs is different from the last: Adaptation; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Synecdoche, New York; Anomalisa, and his 2020 Netflix nightmare scenario I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Fans and critics have tried to pin down Kaufman’s movies using terms like “surreal” or “meta,” but focusing on the structure rather than the content of his work is the wrong approach. It’s more revealing to consider the shared theme that ties all Kaufman’s films together, including his latest, the animated Netflix kids’ movie Orion and the Dark.

Charlie Kaufman’s protagonists have one crucial commonality: their shared mental health struggles. Depression, anxiety, obsessiveness, low self-esteem, and other mental health issues have been key components in all of Kaufman’s movies, explored through protagonists who each have different ways of coping. Whether it’s the driving conflict (in Anomalisa or I’m Thinking of Ending Things) or just a byproduct of the journeys they undergo (in Being John Malkovich or Adaptation), it’s a consistent, prominently featured theme in Kaufman’s work. Having mental health issues is an inescapable fate for a Kaufman protagonist, and at some point, they will inevitably be forced to confront these issues whether they like it or not, often with little success.

At first glance, Orion and the Dark’s protagonist doesn’t seem to have a lot in common with the sad, middle-aged white men at the center of Kaufman’s other films.