Two famous films “The Others” and “The Descent” are perfect examples of the return of the repressed. The term repressed comes from the ideas of Sigmund Freud. Both a philosopher and a physician, Freud “was interested in the relationship between mental functioning and certain fundamental structures of civilization, such as religious beliefs” (Klages). Looking at civilization, he sees two fundamental principles: the "pleasure principle" and the "reality principle." “The pleasure principle tells us to do what feels good; the reality principle tells us to subordinate pleasure to what must be done, work” (Klages). According to Freud, the desire for sexual pleasure is one of the most fundamental drives that all humans feel. However, people can't have sex all the time. We must therefore sublimate most of our desires for sexual pleasure, and transform this energy into something else. Freud states that without the sublimation of our sexual desires, our civilization would not exist. The pleasure principle makes us want something that feels good. Rather, the reality principle tells us to direct our energy toward something else. However, the desire for pleasure does not disappear, even when it is sublimated by another unusual action. Desires that cannot be fulfilled are repressed in the mind, which Freud calls the unconscious. Thus, everyone's mind contains repressed desires inaccessible to the conscious mind. In other words, “the contents of the unconscious consist primarily of sexual desires that have been repressed” (Klages). The main character of the film “The Others”, Grace, lives in the remote house with her two children: her daughter Anne and son Nicolas. Her husband Charles fights in France during World War II and he has no... middle of paper ...... den as a masculine woman. Another transformation takes place when Juno, who "maintains an exterior of feminine masculinity – attractive, aware, muscular and positive as well as constantly in charge" (Rose) in this film, demonstrates qualities that are typically aligned with weak female characters. She cries and sobs and breaks down, so she becomes more feminine. She does not cry for what she has done but for her weakness as a woman. Two films, “The Others” and “The Descent”, perfectly illustrate the return of the repressed. Grace in the first film becomes murder, as she goes crazy due to her difficult and repressed life without a husband. In the second film, Sarah transforms from a weak and unlucky woman into a cold-blooded primal killer. They have something in common: they both lost their husbands, but their states of repression are different..