Sophie Phillips Seamless and distinct Field portrays her characters beautifully. Based on a true story, the writer's capture the harrowing with precision and intellect without the aid of gore. Psychological terror is the most effective tool for the horrifying, when placed in the correct hands. Placed in the wrong hands will result in a mass of blubbering, red water and eyes that will roll. Luckily, Sybil isn't the latter, allowing the reader to be drawn in, horrified and hugely empathetic. Highly commended for skillful writing and superb acting, this film is one that crushes the stereotype for T.V movie. A work that will surely survives the ages, Sybil is tragically gorgeous.

Ilovehandbagsandshoes This review assumes you have read other reviews...Whether or not Multiple Personality Disorder exists, the fact is that this film is about the emergence of the real deal: the truth about the lives of a very disturbed mother who subjected a small child to agonising abuse. The fact that this woman had such devastating 'functional' mental illness is the most horrible fact. Behind closed doors, well within the confines of 'domestic life', this film kicks the living daylights out of the idea of 'home sweet home'.Perhaps the various personalities were not as distinct as the film depicts, but all the same, assuming the voice of a younger self, to enable you to admit to facts, is a very obvious way of dealing with things like this.I don't care if the publisher made them 'invent multiple personalities', I don't care that it was a trend in 1970s therapy, I don't even care that the shrink and the patient became lifelong friends, or if money or fame make people tell the truth - as long as the truth comes out!Personally I'm sick of the view that 'mothers are perfect' that is handed down to us by all of history and culture. Guess what people: mothers can actually be bad, really bad! So I'm just glad some films stick their neck out and tell it like it is.

sdave7596 The 2 disc DVD of this remarkable film is long overdue. I was 14 when "Sybil" was first shown on NBC, and my mother allowed myself and my sister to watch it. I was probably too young then to comprehend what an amazing job the producers, actors, and writer did with this story. Sally Field was an unlikely choice by the acting standards of the time to take on the disturbed Sybil. She and Joanne Woodward and writer Stewart Stern recount all this in the fascinating extras on the DVD. Field was the last actor to audition for the part, and she won out over all the others. Field creates these separate and distinct personalities, taking us on a journey that leads to some horrifying childhood abuse. She is fascinating throughout, and you won't be able to take your eyes off her. Joanne Woodward as the kind and caring psychiatrist is excellent also. I could watch Woodward in any part, she always approaches her roles with intelligence and is very natural. Brad Davis plays a sort of love interest to Sybil, and he is charming and realizes something is amiss about her, but has no idea the depth to which she is disturbed. Sybil's mother (played by Martine Bartlett) is the portrait of evil, and she is a great actress, because you really believe she is a monster. Field won a well deserved Emmy for this, forever shattering her image as the cutesy "Gidget" type actress. Do yourself a favor and watch this movie - it is as good (and better in some cases) as anything released in the theaters.

mercuryix2003 This was a deeply harrowing movie to watch, and unbelievably so when it came out in 1976. A small child in the grip of her homicidally insane mother, who inflicted sadistic torture on her, while her ineffective husband looked the other way when the signs of abuse were obvious. There's a small performance in this movie that haunted me more than almost anything else in the film; the part of the grandmother, played by Jessamine Milner, who was as much a victim and prisoner in the home of her psychotic daughter as Sybil was. The difference was she was aware of the extent of her daughter's insanity. What must it be like to be a prisoner in your own adult child's home, knowing she is inflicting abuse on your grandchild and will do the same to you if you speak? That kind of helplessness must be sheer hell to live with. She could have told her son-in-law or the police at any time (if she was able to get out of the house), but would they have done anything? Or turned a blind eye, considering the time? Jessamine Milner's performance was so honest and affecting, it stands out as one of the most painful parts of the film, and she is in only two minutes of it! She was born in 1894, and was almost 80 when she made the film. She apparently was in her mid-seventies when she went into film! She's a mystery, and other than her few TV appearances in the late 70s, nothing apparently is known about her. However, she deserves a mention somewhere because of her performance in this difficult to watch film.