Most of us have experienced anxiety at least once in our lives – whether before an exam or in the face of an impending disaster. But what is anxiety from a psychoanalytic perspective?
In this article, I want to focus on neurotic anxiety, using the film Wild Mountain Thyme (2021) as an illustration. Incidentally, the original title, Wild Mountain Thyme, seems more fitting – it serves as a metaphor for the love that blossomed between the parents of the main character.
The film’s events unfold against the backdrop of rainy Irish nature. The protagonist, Anthony Reilly, is a kind, gentle, and introverted man. On a neighboring farm lives Rosemary, who has been hopelessly in love with him since childhood. As we learn from the film, Anthony is not indifferent to her either. It would seem simple: neighbors, marriage, family continuation. But it doesn’t happen. And the main question is: why?
What Really Stops Anthony?
He finds himself trapped in a cycle of repeating events from which he struggles to escape. Since childhood, Anthony has asked the stars: “Why am I like this?” He loves flowers, scientific journals, and fishing – seemingly nothing extraordinary, nothing that would justify calling him “mad”. Yet this becomes a source of disappointment for his father, who rejects his son’s path and harshly declares that Anthony is not a Reilly. In his father’s eyes, he is more like the “mad” neighbor, Kelly. “I am a disgrace!” Anthony ultimately concludes. He repeatedly tries to earn love, only to face failure and suffering each time.
One of his father’s demands is marriage – which resonates with Anthony’s unconscious desire. This path could change his life, but it is also where he encounters anxiety.
From a psychoanalytic perspective, anxiety is not the fear of losing something, but rather the impossibility of losing the object of one’s desire. This is the so-called lack of castration. In Anthony’s case, it is the conviction that Rosemary deserves someone better than him. This belief prevents him from fulfilling his desire.
When Anthony’s father gives him an ultimatum – marry or lose the farm – Anthony ends up on his knees in front of a mare. Imagining it is Rosemary, he freely expresses his thoughts: “What’s wrong with me? You’re attractive and could find someone better. But there’s no one else around.” Yet, when he finds himself face-to-face with Rosemary, he cannot utter a single word.
How the Psyche Defends Itself
Experiencing anxiety is not pleasant, so the psyche tries to bind it. In the film, we see how Anthony builds literal and symbolic barriers between himself and Rosemary. “You put a fence between us. Why?” she asks.
The logic of binding anxiety also plays out in the story of the proposal – his mother’s engagement ring becomes a mandatory condition for Anthony. This condition serves to distance him from his desire. Standing outside Rosemary’s house, one step away from confessing his feelings, he loses the ring. For the rest of the film, he searches for it with a metal detector, to no avail – it turns out it has been with Rosemary all along. “It wasn’t meant to be,” he concludes.
In psychoanalysis, this logic is called castration +1, where a person constantly postpones encountering their desire: one more night, one more year, one more condition – and I will be ready. But this readiness never comes. And the desire remains perpetually out of reach.
Breaking Through Anxiety
The most anxious moment in the film begins with the episode where Anthony’s more successful cousin flies to Ireland to propose to Rosemary. The appearance of a rival forces Anthony to act decisively: despite the approaching storm, he goes to search for the lost ring – as if it were the final condition that would allow him to finally act.
In the fields, he meets Rosemary. This time, she does not let Anthony escape or hide from her. She wants to know the truth. The storm rages at full force. Rosemary’s wild mare breaks free from the locked stable. Everything – from nature to the behavior of the animals – points to the protagonist’s inner chaos. “Why don’t you want to propose to me yourself?” Rosemary asks directly.
“I am afraid of love,” Anthony admits a little later. After all, love contradicts his deep-seated belief that love must be earned – through actions, sacrifices, and conformity to some ideal. A place where feelings can be calculated and earned. His encounter with Rosemary shatters this logic completely – leaving him defenseless.
Thus, Wild Mountain Thyme is not just a romantic story. It is an accurate portrayal of neurotic anxiety, in which the hero is stuck between the enjoyment of his own unacceptability and the desire to love. He creates a trap for himself with conditions, rules, and expectations, avoiding the main encounter with his own desire.
By the laws of the genre, Rosemary and Anthony’s story ends with a happy ending. But in real life, anxiety often does not allow us to reach such a finale. It gets stuck between us and our desire. And only when we dare to look it in the eye does a chance for new stories appear.
