In my plan to write about and study films about dementias I realise that the research involved is too complex and beyond my available time and interest.  I know nothing about horror films and it seems to me that it requires a special knowledge of the genre.  I will limit my research to films where the main subject is a woman as I have done for my previous work.

Before I embark on a different path, I will also like to chose films where dementia is the main subject and try to avoid the misrepresentation exemplified bu the review in the Guardian:

I’ve yet to see a film that sufficiently gets to the heart of what it means to watch a loved one lose their mind to dementia. Those that have garnered attention and awards over the years, while incredibly affecting, are suffused with a worthiness or restraint that somehow neglects the dementia that I have witnessed. There are some notable exceptions: Michael Haneke’s Amour and Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages do well to convey the more savage aspects of the disease. 

(https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/nov/05/cinema-dementia-relic-dick-johnson-is-dead-films)

Amour is certainly not about dementia.  And yet this is quoted in IMDB – a site I always considered as reliable. 

I will also ignore films where the dementia is a minor subject and the role played by the affected person is minimal.

In often quoted The Savages (2007) the main theme is the impact made by the needs of a dementing father on his estranged unloved daughter and son. There is a shocking scene of the demented father abusing his carer but this is a device to convey the unpleasant character of the father….. 

I will also avoid similar films where the demented character is not the main subject of the film for example  Firefly Dreams(2001). A beautiful visual film more interesting  about the teenager than the old woman she visits…. 

 I recently obtained the DVD of a difficult-to-find film “ What they Had” (2018).  I wonder why this film has not been more widely distributed.  Still Mine (2012) a Canadian film about an old couple also did not deserve this oversight. I will start my study after Xmas with this touching film.