The newborn field of psychoanalysis provides the backdrop for this 1926 German thriller directed by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. A tormented scientist (Werner Krauss) suffering from an irrational fear of knives and the irresistible urge to murder his wife seeks help in confronting his demons once and for all. The scientist's fantastic nightmares find brilliant expression in surreal sequences that mark this as a work of true cinematic art.