Hysteria

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy star in this offbeat and very amusing romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England. Based on a true story, Hysteria is set in 1880, and follows Mortimer Granville (Dancy), a young doctor disillusioned by his colleagues' medieval practices. He starts working for Dr Dalrymple, who treats cases of the female ailment commonly known as hysteria by offering them intimate manual relief. Demand becomes so great that Dalrymple and Mortimer cannot keep up with 'curing' women. To keep Mortimer working, Dalrymple promises him his business, and the hand of his beautiful young daughter. But when Mortimer falls for Dalrymple's older and most unconventional daughter, the feisty feminist Charlotte (Gyllenhaal) who runs a women's refuge in east London, his future looks doubtful. In desperation, he invents a machine that will at least solve his medical challenges - the world's first vibrator. ©2010 HYSTERIA FILMS LIMITED, ARTE FRANCE CINEMA AND BY ALTERNATIVE PICTURES S.A.R.L.