Sybil poster

Sybil

★ 8.0 8K votes 1976–1976 1 seasons · 2 episodes Ended NBC
Mental healthPsychological struggle treated with real seriousness.This show: 10/10Emotionally heavyDemands real emotional stamina from the viewer.This show: 9/10Character studyInterior life matters more than plot.This show: 9/10Strong female leadA complex woman drives the story.This show: 9/10Gut punchWilling to devastate you, and remembered for it.This show: 8/10BleakGrim and heavy, with little easy relief. These shows sit with suffering instead of softening it.This show: 8/10Female perspectiveWomen's experience as the defining lens.This show: 8/10Tight limited runA compact, complete story told in just a few episodes.This show: 8/10
Rate this series
Starring
Joanne WoodwardSally FieldBrad DavisMartine BartlettJane HoffmanCharles Lane
Starring
Joanne WoodwardSally FieldBrad DavisMartine BartlettJane HoffmanCharles Lane
Ratings per Episode
246810
Votes per Episode
020406080

Sybil Episode Ratings Heatmap

AvgE1E2
S18.68.68.6

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About

"The performance that changed how trauma is shown"

Sybil dramatizes the real-life case of a young woman whose mind splintered into distinct personalities as a way of surviving a brutal, abusive childhood. Told largely through her sessions with a patient, dedicated psychiatrist, the film moves slowly and deliberately, building dread and sympathy rather than shocks. It's heavy, intimate, and often harrowing, carried almost entirely by its lead performance, which shifts between voices, postures, and ages with unsettling conviction. This isn't fast entertainment; it's a slow, aching character study that helped define how psychological trauma gets portrayed on screen.

Watch it for

the astonishing lead performance that shifts between personalities with total, unnerving conviction.

Maybe skip if

you find dramatized childhood abuse and psychological breakdown too heavy or upsetting to sit through.

Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.

All Seasons

Miniseries1976
8.613324h 30m
EpTitleRatingYoursVotesRuntime
1Episode #1.18.6
72135 min
2Episode #1.28.6
61135 min

Full Cast & Crew

Cast

Joanne Woodward Dr. Cornelia Wilbur
Sally Field Sybil
Brad Davis Richard
Martine Bartlett Hattie
Jane Hoffman Frieda Dorsett
Charles Lane Dr. Quinoness
Jessamine Milner Grandma Dorsett
William Prince Willard Dorsett
Penelope Allen Miss Penny
Camila Ashland Cam

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