55 Steps (2018)

Set in 1987 San Francisco, a woman (Helena Bonham Carter) is committed to a mental health facility where she is given antipsychotic drugs against her will. A lawyer (Hilary Swank) with the American Civil Liberties Union takes on her case and the medical establishment in allowing patients the right to "informed consent". Based on the true story of Eleanor Riese and a landmark  court decision in California and directed by Bille August (PELLE THE CONQUEROR). A film like this can't help but be fascinating not only in its attack on the arrogance of the medical establishment in not allowing mental patients a choice in their treatment but in their automatic assumption that "mental" patients do not have the ability to make a conscious choice about their health and welfare. But what takes this movie out of the usual "David against Goliath" true story realm is the friendship and love between the two women, lawyer and client. The film doesn't try to make Bonham Carter's mentally challenged Eleanor a poor put upon victim saved by the smart lawyer lady. Her Eleanor is not only a feisty fighter, she's often downright obnoxious and infuriating while Swank's lawyer is full of her own neuroses. And it's their story that will bring tears to your eyes by the film's end. The film opened in Germany in 2018 but was never released in the U.S. theatrically which is a pity. With Jeffrey Tambor and Tim Plester.