Similar to the psychotherapeutic use of metaphor, feature film is increasingly used as a clinical technique for eliciting and building upon patients' symbolic language. The clinical use of film has been presented as valuable in advancing the patient-clinician therapeutic alliance. Feature film is thought to help difficult-to-reach patients engage in therapeutic exploration of problematic cognitive, behavioral, and emotional elements of their existence. Research on the clinical use of film has primarily focused on outpatients. There have been no investigations exploring the use of film as part of psychological assessment in inpatient settings. Current literature has also continued to focus on techniques drawn from cinematherapy. In cinematherapy, clinicians choose and assign specific films to patients on the basis of their interpretations of films having specific therapeutic value. There are no studies or expositions to date that highlight the merits of patients, not clinicians, choosing films that relate to their psychological difficulties. The following article describes the possible benefits of a clinical assessment technique that uses patients' choices of feature film during the initial inpatient psychological mental status exam.