Carl Jung, a disciple and friend of Sigmund Freud, is using Freudian techniques to treat Russian-Jewish psychiatric patient Sabina Spielrein at Burghölzli Mental Hospital. But the deeper Jung's relationship with Spielrein grows, the further the burgeoning psychiatrist and his highly respected mentor drift apart. As Jung struggles to help his patient overcome some pressing paternal issues, disturbed patient Otto Gross sets out to test the boundaries of the doctor's professional resolve. But while their personal lives enter crisis, the work they have carried out has a profound effect on the methods doctors adopt to treat patients. A classy adaptation by Cronenberg of Christopher Hampton’s play.