Group: The Schopenhauer Effect - Director Alexis Lloyd

A real psychoanalyst and eight actors… GROUP: THE SCHOPENHAUER EFFECT drop us into the center of a weekly group run by Dr. Elliot Zeisel, a real New York psychoanalyst with more than 50 years of experience. Dr. Zeisel intervened and reacted in real time as he would in his actual daily practice. His presence intentionally blurs the line between performance and reality, creating live tension where fiction feeds reality and reality feeds fiction. When newcomer Alexis (Thomas Sadoski) joins a Manhattan therapy group and reveals he wants to write a TV series based on their sessions, it threatens the group’s balance and exposes everyone’s vulnerabilities. Director and writer Alexis Lloyd brings to life a great ensemble of actors that includes; Lucy Walters, Bernardo Cubría, Teresa Avia Lim, Ezra Barnes, Cara Ronzetti, Elisha Lawson, Gabriela Kohen and Dr. Elliot Zeisel as Dr. Ezra Hertzfeld.

About the filmmaker - Alexis Lloyd, Writer-Director-Editor-Producer was born in Paris, he is a writer, director, and producer. During his years as CEO of Pathé UK, Lloyd supervised the production and distribution of over 90 features, including several award-winning films. His producing credits include An Ideal Husband by Oliver Parker, Topsy-Turvy by Mike Leigh, Ratcatcher by Lynne Ramsay, Love’s Labours Lost by Kenneth Branagh, and The Claim by Michael Winterbottom. Lloyd wrote and directed 3 films, including the feature film 30 Beats (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate). He wrote and directed the web series GROUP (2021), available on YouTube and AllArts (PBS), which has reached over 700,000 views. Lloyd is a member of BAFTA, of the Académie des César and of the Actors Studio in New York.