Sybil 2007

Troubled Columbia University art student and later student teacher Sybil Dorsett [Tammy Blanchard] is referred to psychiatrist Dr. Cornelia Wilbur [Jessica Lange] by Dr. Atcheson [Ron White], a colleague who believes the young woman is suffering from female hysteria. As her treatment progresses, Sybil confesses that she frequently experiences blackouts and cannot account for large blocks of time. Wilbur helps her recall a childhood in which she suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of her disturbed mother Hattie [JoBeth Williams].

Eventually, 16 identities varying in age and personal traits begin to emerge, chief among them is Victoria, a French woman who explains to Dr. Wilbur how she shepherds the many parts of Sybil’s whole.** The tension grows as colleagues object to what they see as potential manipulation, and Sybil’s father Willard [Brian Downey] refuses to admit his late wife Hattie was anything other than a loving mother.

Although she had promised never to hypnotize Sybil, Wilbur takes her to her home by a lake and hypnotizes her into having all 16 personalities be the same age as she and become just aspects of Sybil. By nightfall, Sybil claims she feels different, and emotionally declares her hatred toward Hattie.

The film closes by recounting the history of Shirley Ardell Mason, the real woman who was known by the pseudonym of Sybil Dorsett.