Not many documentaries have to contend with an audience that assumes their subject matter is bogus. But filmmaker Lana Wilson was up for the challenge when she set out to document the emotionally charged alchemy of psychics practicing in New York City. She was, after all, a self-confessed skeptic herself. Yet she found herself in the office of a psychic searching for answers in the aftermath of the 2016 election.

“I couldn’t believe I walked in there. I’ve never been a religious person,” Wilson said over Zoom. “Yet today I went to a psychic for comfort — and I felt comforted. And I thought, ‘What does it mean that I just felt better after talking to this stranger for five minutes?’”

That question lingered in Wilson’s mind for several years as she made behind-the-scenes documentaries about Taylor Swift and Brooke Shields. Her search for answers came into focus with “Look Into My Eyes,” which opens Friday in New York on A24, with an expansion next week. In the documentary, seven psychics let the camera into their sessions — both the happy clients and the dead ends — as they talk about their personal histories and what led them to their unique practices. Some of them even confess that they don’t believe they have any psychic powers at all. Another specializes in pets and claims to have once diagnosed a cat’s urinary tract infection via telepathy.

“I’m personally all for a viewing experience where there’s doubt, where there’s hesitation, where you’re uncomfortable,” Wilson says. “Even if you think this is artificial, you can still have this real emotional experience. That’s how I feel when I go to a play. This is all fake and all contrived, but I have this very real, vivid experience that’s incredibly meaningful.”