Lars and the Real Girl is an excellent film. Lars experiences a delusion--that a sex doll that he bought (for companionship; not sex) is a real person. The film is the story of Lars' community, from his brother and sister-in-law, who live next door, to his co-workers, to his church friends, welcoming the sex doll, Bianca, and including her in the life of the town in order to help Lars.
The doctor in their town is also a psychologist ("you have to be, this far north") who treats Lars under the guise of just hanging out while she treats Bianca for her low blood pressure. The doctor says, tellingly, that what we think of as mental illness is sometimes an attempt to communicate. As she spends time with Lars, she realizes that he feels physical pain when he is hugged or touched. He is unable to integrate into the community until Bianca is at his side. And when Bianca has done her job (she believes that she's called to help people, Lars tells us), Lars discovers that she has died. He's able, then, to begin to form relationships on his own.
The way that the community adopts Bianca is remarkable--they give her a job modeling at the mall; she is elected to the school board they dress her and bathe her. And when she dies, they all come out and mourn her. Their acceptance of her on Lars' behalf is profound. And their unconditional acceptance of Lars and his "disability" make his delusion almost irrelevant. Then enable him through their acceptance of who he is, in his strengths and weaknesses. It is this love that heals him.
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