Directed by:
Brad AndersonScreenplay:
Joe GangemiCinematography:
Thomas YatskoComposer:
John DebneyCast:
Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Brendan Gleeson, Sophie Kennedy Clark, David Thewlis, Jason Flemyng, Sinéad Cusack, Velizar Binev (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
"We're all mad... some are simply not mad enough to admit it!" Dr Lamb. Welcome to Stonehearst - where the insane are running the asylum. Inside the walls lies a secret. Once you discover the truth there is no escape... On Christmas Eve 1899 young doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at the imposing gates of the remote Stonehearst Mental Asylum in search of an apprenticeship. He is greeted by the seemingly brilliant superintendent Dr Lamb (Ben Kingsley) and a mesmerising woman by the name of Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale). Edward is intrigued by Lamb's modern methods of treating the insane - until a series of unusual events leads him to make a horrifying discovery deep within the bowels of the asylum. As the facade of Lamb's utopia begins to crack and his deadly past is exposed a dawning horror engulfs Edward and pushes him to the limits of his conscience. Inspired by a riveting short story by Edgar Allan Poe and featuring an all-star cast including Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine and David Thewlis, Stonehearst Asylum is a tale in which nobody is who or what they appear to be. (Roadshow Entertainment)
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Reviews (6)
Interesting cast, interesting source material, but ultimately nothing that could hold my attention. The film is beautifully stylized, the sanatorium is wonderfully haunting, but even so, it is not enough for "Eliza Graves" to be among those films that are truly worth seeing. It felt incredibly tedious to me.
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If you're going to make a film about a madhouse with a weird mystery, then a) make the screenwriter supercharge the plot with functional characters, or b) tell the producers that the main character will pull money out of wallets, but that her insistent harassment in the plot will kill credibility in addition to compactness; I consider the final point, when the smarter third of the audience started laughing in relief, as Anderson's raised middle finger (to everyone). 3 ½.
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I really like this type of movies. Although I was strongly reminded of Shutter Island the entire time, I didn’t really mind this at all. They don’t make many films like this. Stonehearst Asylum has a great atmosphere, great actors (mainly Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine) and two pretty decent plot twists that will keep you awake at night and are a nice fit into the complete puzzle. What more could I want from such a film?
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Not an adaptation of “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", no. At least not really. In fact, the short story serves as a springboard for the film, as a foundation that, let's face it, is just asking for a good time. And the delightfulness was successful - the screenwriter managed to follow Poe exactly in his style, which made me very happy. Plus, the cast (one heck of a cast, only Michael Caine didn't have much space much again) and the truly weird atmosphere (a midnight ball to the accompaniment of Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre!) make Stonehearst Asylum a pleasantly uncomfortable spectacle, though probably a one-off.__P.S. I hadn't seen such an ugly picture on an original DVD in a long time - much of the film takes place in dark rooms or basements lit only by candles or kerosene lamps, and it looked very ugly indeed on screen. Black was more blue, orange was red... And so on.
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Stonehearst Asylum is mentally at the level of Dracula Untold, but with a more ambitious story, an A-list cast and wrapped up in nobler motivations (everything for love!). It lacks the intelligent, detached perspective and masterful toying with the audience that make Shutter Island so great.
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