CinemaPsych Podcast

Author: cinemapsychpod

Where psychology meets films. We dissect and analyze popular films and their psychological content.
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Language: en

Genres: Science, Social Sciences, TV & Film

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Episode 109: Grief and Guilt Can Take You on a Journey into Darkness — Herman (2025) with Dir. Andrew Vogel
Episode 109
Monday, 26 January, 2026

Join Alex and filmmaker Andrew Vogel, director of the new psychological horror/thriller film, Herman (2025), as they discuss the themes and psychological concepts found within his directorial debut! The film follows a harrowing evening experienced by the titular character, Herman, played by Colin Ward. Herman is dealing with the grief and guilt losing his wife 40 years ago and it manifests as some form of darkness. The pair discuss these topics from a psychological perspective, including how religious psychology plays a role, as well as psychosis as meaning-making rather than a mental disorder. There's a lot up to audience interpretation and Alex has a field day thinking up various ideas to prod the filmmaker! Check out VP Independent's Instagram or email Andrew directly. You can find Herman (2025) now on Amazon — leave a review if you watch it! Please leave your feedback on this post, the main site (cinemapsychpod.swanpsych.com), on Facebook (@CinPsyPod), or Threads/Instagram (@cinemapsych_podcast). We'd love to hear from you! If you like this content, you might like my new Audible audiobook/course, A Psychologist Goes to the Movies, available now! It features six films that have been on this show, condensed into 25-30 min essays, researched and analyzed. Don't forget to check out our Paypal link to contribute to this podcast and keep the lights on! Don't forget to check out our MERCH STORE for some great merch with our logo and other designs! Legal stuff: 1. All film clips are used under Section 107 of Title 17 U.S.C. (fair use; no copyright infringement is intended). 2. Intro and outro music by half.cool ("Gemini"). Used under license. 3. Film reel sound effect by bone666138. Used under license CC-BY 3.0. Episode Transcription Go to this link to read a transcript generated by Whisper AI Large V3 Model. Disclaimer: It is not edited and may contain errors!