Study findings revealed that depressed and suicidal youth had different reactions to films from those not suffering from these conditions. Vulnerable youth reported viewing films on television and in other settings to the same degree as less vulnerable youth. However, they showed a preference for films in each of the four categories examined (mentally disturbed, heroic suicide, thrillers, and comedies). The belief that treatment for depression is ineffective was found to be strongly related to exposure to the films with mentally disturbed characters. The relation between treatment beliefs and film exposure exhibited a linear dose-response relation among vulnerable youth. These findings suggest that exposure to fictional depictions of characters failing to get help for mental disorders may have long-term effects on depressed and suicidal youth. It is important to determine if young viewers who are vulnerable to suicide are actually drawn to media depictions of mentally disturbed characters. This study assessed vulnerable youth’s exposure to films that contained mentally disturbed and suicidal characters as well as films that portrayed suicide primarily as heroic acts. A survey was conducted in 2002 with 900 randomly selected 14- to 22-year-olds in the United States. The participants reported on recent symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation, as well as exposure to films in general and to recent films that contained content relevant to these conditions. Participants were also surveyed on their beliefs about treatment effectiveness. Tables, figure, and references