A Launch Into Hallucinations Of War

The arthouse drama Hallucinations of War, directed by Nath Milburn, tells the story of Emily, a woman who returns home for her mother’s wake. Here, the battlefield is domestic, unlike Barbarella, and the enemy is psychological. Her estranged twin sister and the sister’s new boyfriend engage in manipulative gaslighting. This causes Emily to question her own sanity. This isn’t a war of armies, but a war for her mind. The film matches with broader themes that the term “Hallucinations of War” has explored throughout history: the psychological experiences of veterans dealing with PTSD, the deceptive “phantom armies” of historical warfare, and the very nature of hallucinations as a reaction to trauma, as explored in the works of Oliver Sacks and authors like Elizabeth Bowen.