Hysteria

London. 1880. Dr. Mortimer Granville (Dancy) is torn between the “proper”
doctor’s staid and static world of success and acceptance and a more
progressive and fulfilling, but frowned upon, experience. Tossed out for his
forward-thinking ideas by the medical establishment, Granville finds a
position with Dr. Robert Dalrymple, a highly respected and successful
doctor, with a very popular private practice specializing in treating women
diagnosed with Hysteria. Indeed, the good doctor’s waiting room is never
quiet.

In his new position, Dalrymple finds Granville a proper suitor for his beloved
daughter Emily, the epitome of “English virtue and womanliness,” with her
lovely face, demure manner and artistic and intellectual accomplishments,
but it is the elder daughter Charlotte (Gyllenhaal), a firebrand social
reformer, arguing passionately for women’s rights to be educated, vote, and
live independent lives that secretly excites him. Although Granville is
somewhat shocked by Charlotte’s lack of propriety, he feels kinship with her
conviction to help those in need. They snipe at each other’s views, but he
earns her grudging respect when he treats a poor settlement house woman
with a broken ankle.

Genre: Comedy, Romance
R/T: 100 minutes
Rating: R
Director: Tanya Wexler
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett
Rights: International