HYSTERIA

Year: 2011
USA: Sony Pictures Classics
UK: Sony Pictures Releasing
Cast: Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Pryce, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett, Ashley Jensen, Sheridan Smith, Gemma Jones, Malcolm Rennie, Kim Criswell, Georgie Glen, Elisabet Johannesdottir, Linda Woodhall, Kim Selby, Ann Comfort, Jonathan Rhodes, Leila Schaus
Director: Tanya Wexler
Countries: UK / France / Germany / Luxembourg
USA: 100 mins
UK: mins
USA Rated: R for sexual content
UK Certificate: tbc
USA Release Date: 18 May 2012
UK Release Date: 21 September 2012

Official UK website

Synopsis

London, 1880. Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy), a dedicated and forward-thinking young doctor, is struggling to establish his career. While Granville preaches sanitation and germ theory, the old guard of doctors clings to leeches and hacksaws, and are dismissive making fun of his upstart ideas.

When Granville arrives for an interview at the private offices of Dr Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce), his career is about to be launched. London’s leading specialist in women’s medicine, Dalrymple has a thriving solo practice. His waiting room is overflowing with well-dressed women suffering “weeping, nymphomania, frigidity, melancholia, and anxiety” �" afflictions of the female nervous system thought to stem from a disorder of the uterus known as “hysteria.”

Fortunately, enlightened medicine has shown that hysteria can be treated by relieving tensions within the womb, and Dalrymple’s treatments are so successful that, as he explains to Granville, “another pair of hands” is his urgent need. Granville is hired on the spot.

Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal (CRAZY HEART, NANNY McPHEE RETURNS), Hugh Dancy (ADAM, CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC), Jonathan Pryce (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN), Felicity Jones (LIKE CRAZY) and Rupert Everett (MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING).