Synopsis
Two doctors in Victorian England use manual stimulation of female genitalia to cure their patients' ills, leading to the invention of the vibrator.
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Cast
- Maggie GyllenhaalCharlotte Dalrymple
- Hugh DancyDr. Mortimer Granville
- Jonathan PryceDr. Robert Dalrymple
- Felicity JonesEmily Dalrymple
- Rupert EverettLord Edmund St. John-Smythe
- Ashley JensenFanny
- Sheridan SmithMolly the Lolly
- Gemma JonesLady St. John-Smythe
- Tobias MenziesMr. Squyers
- Malcolm RennieLord St. John-Smythe
Recommendations
- 91
Entertainment Weekly
Whenever Rupert Everett appears as a rich fellow who distinctly does not fancy ladies, it's a hysterical history lesson of the hilarious variety. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Hysteria, is a pleasurable diversion, even if it could have used a touch more spark in the writing. - 65
Movieline
The picture is at least spirited, a jaunty trifle that's low on eroticism but high on cartoony coquettishness. Like the little motorized whatsit that is its subject, it does have its charms. - 63
Slant Magazine
Hysteria's happy ending isn't the type that calls for a cigarette, and it certainly isn't the one the film deserves. - 63
ReelViews
Hysteria's "hook" is that it chronicles the development of one of the 20th century's most popular home appliances: the vibrator. However, although the details surrounding the deplorable state of women's medicine during the Victorian era are intriguing, the central story - a romantic comedy between a progressive woman and a forward-thinking doctor - is flaccid. - 60
Boxoffice Magazine
Though the film is a fairly plastic British period piece with all the intimacy of a Hitachi Wand, the script captures some delicate and intelligent facets of a tensely conflicted era. - 60
New York Daily News
While a delicate topic would seem to require a delicate touch, Wexler goes more for cheeky entertainment. To some degree, it works. - 50
Variety
Dancy manages a few sly moments, and Everett is as ever a scene-stealer, if barely recognizable under a beard and altered features, and with a raspy voice. But the estimable Pryce and Jones are wasted, along with many other fine thesps, while Gyllenhaal works too gratingly hard in an already strained role.
