Eliza Graves
Tags: insanity, romantic, gothic, murder, plot twist

Plot synopsis:
In 1899, an Oxford University professor demonstrates a case of female hysteria, Lady (Eliza) Graves (Kate Beckinsale), before his class. The patient is drugged and protesting that she is sane, but the professor points out that all mental patients claim to be sane, much as all criminals claim to be innocent. He ignores her demands that he not touch her to induce a fit for the students to observe. The professor advises his students to believe nothing they hear and only half of what they see.
Later, a young man, the newly-minted Dr. Edward Newgate, (Jim Sturgess), arrives at Stonehearst Asylum on Christmas Eve, where he desires to take up residency. A group of armed men led by Mickey Finn (David Thewlis) allow him entry. Finn escorts him to the office of the superintendent, Dr. Silas Lamb (Ben Kingsley). Although Lamb was not expecting him, despite Newgate having sent letters preceding his arrival, he welcomes the help of an Oxford-educated doctor and grants him the residency.
Newgate is surprised by Lamb's unorthodox methods and uncustomarily humane asylum. Lamb explains that he does not believe in drugging or incarcerating his patients, and he encourages their delusions when he feels it will bring them greater happiness, thus creating a kind and dignified environment at the asylum.
Lady Graves, now a resident at Stonehearst, is introduced to Newgate, who appears immediately smitten. Lamb explains that the Lady Graves has an abusive and painful past. She developed hysteria from enduring her husband's "unnatural appetites" and can no longer bear emotional or physical contact without seizing in hysterical fits. She stabbed her husband in the right eye with a comb and bit off his left ear trying to protect herself, which led to her father committing her into the asylum to escape her marriage to her "monster" of a husband. Her husband has since been trying to free her back into his care. Dr. Lamb is currently prescribing musical therapy for her and refuses to declare her sane, for her own safety.
Though she brushes aside Newgate's attempts at flirtation, she is struck by his empathy and respectful demeanor. An elaborate Christmas feast follows, during which the staff and patients mingle and a small fight between Newgate and Finn occurs, cementing their dislike for one another. After the dinner, Lady Graves delivers ominous warnings to Newgate, and quietly insists that he flee the asylum, but Newgate refuses to leave without her.
The reason for Lady Graves' warning soon reveals itself. Newgate discovers dozens of prisoners being kept in basement cells. The prisoners reveal that they are the true staff of Stonehearst, and the doctors and nurses Newgate has met upstairs are actually patients.
The real superintendent, Dr. Benjamin Salt (Michael Caine), explains that Lamb and Finn drugged their drinks and led a revolt. Dr. Salt and Mrs. Pike (Sinéad Cusack), the matron, warn Newgate that Lamb is a dangerous madman – a surgeon who murdered his patients during wartime. Isolated and with limited options of regaining control over the asylum even should they be freed, the staff must remain in their cells to await outside assistance. They request that Dr. Newgate locate the keys in Finn's possession to release them, or else escape to London and seek help.
Lamb begins his unorthodox training for Newgate's residency through an enlightening, if hands-on, lesson in patient dignity. Newgate attempts to recruit Lady Graves to his cause of freeing the true staff, but she declines to become involved and tells him of Salt's and his staff's inhuman abuses. Newgate reveals the scars of his own abusive past and tells her he understands.
Newgate sneaks into Lamb's office and successfully retrieves Salt's notes, but not the keys. While hiding, he overhears Lamb and Finn discussing him. Finn is deeply suspicious of Newgate, but Lamb believes Newgate shows promise and could be a great asylum doctor one day. Both acknowledge the prisoners in the basement, and Lamb promises that the loose ends will be tied up by the New Year.
Salt's notes detail his barbaric medical treatments used against Lamb, who had been under his care for 9 years without cracking before the uprising. Newgate is conflicted when, after two of the prisoners in the basement escape to seek help, both die under suspicious circumstances after being caught by Finn.
While the patients are happy and thriving, there are some definite failings to Lamb's method of running the asylum. They are quickly running out of provisions and having difficulties keeping up with the every-day demands of the large institution, such as heating the building in winter. Some of the more violent patients, such as Finn, are also difficult to control, and he eventually murders a female patient.
By New Year's Eve, the patients are burning the furnishings for warmth and Lamb has destroyed Salt's mind via cranial electroshock, turning him into a patient in his own institution. Newgate is convinced the situation must come to an end and that he and Lady Graves should escape.
Newgate's attempt to drug the patients and gain control of the asylum is thwarted and Lamb prepares Newgate for electric shock therapy to turn him into a mental patient to live among them. It is revealed that Newgate had come to the asylum specifically to rescue Lady Graves, whom he had seen at the Oxford medical demonstration and become fixated with. Before the treatment, Lamb grants Newgate a final request: to see a picture of Lady Graves that he keeps in his pocket. The true object in his pocket, a picture of one of the young soldiers Lamb shot (which Newgate discovered in the padded cell Salt kept Lamb in), causes Lamb to stagger out of the room in a fugue. Finn goes to pick up the electric prods to finish the job, but Newgate is rescued by Lady Graves who overcomes her hysterical fits to kill Finn via electrocution. A fire starts and spreads as Lady Graves rescues the staff from their cells and leads the patients out of the building.
Lamb has now become near-stuporous from the crushing flashbacks of his past actions when, under extreme pressure during his time as a field doctor, Lamb had snapped and executed his battlefield patients as a form of mercy killing before attempting to kill himself.
After all are rescued, as daylight breaks, Newgate again asks Lady Graves to leave with him, but she says that she cannot be with him because he is sane and she is not. Newgate says that he is not sane, as he is madly in love with her, and he intimates that he has a secret to tell her.
Later, Lady Graves' husband and the earlier Oxford professor arrive at the asylum. The asylum has been restored to a gentler order under the kind hand of Mrs. Pike, who is now in charge and has incorporated many of Lamb's methods of treatment. The professor demands Lady Graves' release, but Mrs. Pike says that Dr. Newgate already released her weeks ago. The professor reveals that he is the true Dr. Newgate and the one they knew is an imposter. The Dr. Newgate they met was never a medical student, nor a doctor at all, but an escaped mental patient who had also been part of the exhibition. Dr. Lamb, playing chess with the reduced Dr. Salt, hears this and shows a spark of his previous self as he gleefully remarks "Checkmate."
Lady Graves and the impostor Newgate end the film at the Santa Cristina Asylum in Tuscany, Italy, where they are known as Dr. and Mrs. Lamb, treating mental patients with the original Lamb's methods. The two dance happily and embrace in a beautiful garden.

Review: It was my first time encountering Jim Sturgess in any film but he did a great job too, I mean, everyone was right at the top of their game.The movie is not fast on its feet and contains little action but it makes up for it all with a well told and engaging story.
Despite this - the film works very well, not least because we never know quite what to expect from Ben Kingsley and the always top notch David Thewlis as the villains of the piece, and to go with the melodrama there's some genuine villainy & tragedy to keep the narrative going not to mention a few twists and turns.I've no idea how this relates to the tale by Edgar Allen Poe, but the director / writers have managed to balance the sense you get when reading a Wilkie Collins novel or other 19th century melodrama with the (slightly) more critical perspective we have today, although having said that the idea of a therapeutic community - an idea implicit in much of the film - remains quite controversial even today, where drug treatments as a first line of intervention remain the norm rather than the exception.
Great acting from an impressive cast.Yes the story is based on a Poe story, but instead of finding it eerie I found myself laughing out loud at some parts,(maybe that's just me).If you haven't seen the trailer then all the better, a few twists and turns become apparent about 30mins into the film.
But there is more to it so don't feel disappointed.In general an entertaining film about lunatics and an asylum, set in a Gothic era, the cast really do bring a lot to this film.Ben Kingsley imparticular brings so much to his character.I give it a good 7.5 out of 10.
While the film might lack some the macabre drama and dark humor of the original Edgar Allan Poe tale, it still does a fine job of conveying a creepy, engaging thriller with a brilliant Gothic atmosphere and fine performances from its terrific ensemble cast.There's probably a brilliant, award-worthy film to be made about the inhumane way the medical practice dealt with the mentally ill in the past.
It has a bit of a "Shutter Island" feel to it, however the only things similar are Ben Kingsley, a Mental institution, suspense, spoilers, a script and story that keeps you pleasantly confused, and solid acting.
They all played their parts wonderfully.It was suspenseful, intriguing, dramatic, thrilling and in a way horrifically ironic.I guess that does describe Poe, who wrote the story.It has an interesting twist at the end, which I didn't expect, and I am always looking for a twist.However, the twist was refreshing, even sardonic which is rare these days.This is a tight film.
Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Kingsly and Michael Caine are all big name actors but the movie never rose to their level.
The young doctor Newgate, stumbling in from the cold, introduces himself outside the gates of the isolated and ominous towering buildings of the Stonehearst Asylum, eager to observe and learn.And receives much more than he bargained for.The good doctor quickly discovers the central secret of Stonehearst early in the plot, and must then painfully confront a complicated question: Are the patients better off at the hands of doctors who are attempting to 'cure' through sadistic means, or would their world be a better place if ruled by one of their own compassionate (and thoroughly mad) unfortunates?Silas Lamb, the storys' antagonist, is brought to life as only Ben Kingsly can do it.
The plot and execution of Stonehearst Asylum evoke the cinema from Amicus and Hammer Films made in the '60s, even though it isn't a horror film, but a psychological (psychiatric?) thriller in which the clinical focuses from two doctors who want to help their patients in two different ways compete.
Nevertheless, there are various positive elements in Stonehearst Asylum, such as the excellent performances from Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Brendan Gleeson and David Thewlis.
I guess its most accurately described as a Gothic romance.It's a loose riff off Poe's "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" with a few canny twists.The cast is stellar: Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Kate Beckinsale, Sinead Cusak.I tend to define films in terms of whether or not I would enjoy watching them with my undoubtedly better half.
the casting was perfect too each character is strange enough to draw your attention throughout the movie ,make you want to know more about each.You will be fearful over Jim Sturgess character with his cute face and the pretty Kate Beckinsale will own your sympathy and stop you from believing that she has a mind's sickness.
What could the viewer expect from a film with a cast with names such as Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine, Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, David Thewlis and Brendan Gleeson other than a great film?
My wife and I really enjoyed this title and had a great time trying to guess what was going to happen next.I haven't read this specific book but as I've grown up surrounded by books written by EAP (my mom is a huge fan of his) I knew it would be one of those stories that we'll try guessing what's happening but never see things actually coming.We were torn at first as we think it can be very hard sometimes to make a good movie out of Allan Poe's novels..
There is a scene during the opening of the film where a young doctor played by Jim Sturgess arrives at this Gothic asylum and the atmosphere seems ideal for a great suspenseful thriller, but the story never seems to catch on with the visuals and the atmosphere is lost.
Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Kingsley, and Michael Caine all star in this film which should automatically make it worth giving it a watch, but unfortunately the script doesn't do anything to make their characters interesting.
The film is based on Poe's short story, The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, but the adaptation to the big screen doesn't necessary make for a good watch.
Early in the movie there is a twist that I won't give away, but where Edward is introduced to some other characters among which is Benjamin Salt (Michael Caine) who makes a very interesting claim that could change everything he has come to believe about the asylum.
A most enjoyable and entertaining film with a quality cast of actors and actresses who do an excellent job to develop the story and the suspense which stems from it from beginning to the end.This is certainly a film on DVD you will be tempted to watch more than once to catch up on the little bits you might have missed along the way.Might even suggest and recommend the movie makes excellent viewing for Christmas Day but it certainly offers an intriguing insight to an Asylum at the turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth.I understood Lunacy to mean from 'luna' the moon in Latin and a Lunatic as someone who went mad from looking at the full moon or something like that.
There really is nothing at all 'Wrong' with the film in any way, but probably just for me personally, I would have liked the story to be a bit more intense and the plot points and/or twists to have a little more 'Oomph' behind them.
I think that if the director could have possibly infused a bit more of an undercurrent of intensity and palpable 'Mood' (like in 'SESSION 9') I feel that that would have added a lot more to the film.But, with that said, the movie is very competently done and it is engaging and all of the characters are interesting.
At first I didn't know what this movie was about and based on a book of E.A.P. but at the first two minutes passed I notice that who belongs the story,you never know the turns that the story can take It always surprised Allan Poe ,very good adaptation,give a suitable speed to the story ,the cast was very well chosen ,Ben Kinsley as always is remarkable and Kate Beckinsale was made for this kind of role,the costumes are appropriate to the time, end of the nineteenth century.
It is a period piece, very dark in theme and in cinematic transformation, and it boasts a huge cast of very highly respected actors.The time is turn of the century (1899-2000) and a recent medical school grad Doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at Stonehearst Asylum in search of an apprenticeship, he is warmly welcomed by superintendent Dr. Lamb (Ben Kingsley) and a mesmerizing woman by the name of Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale).
And there are some terrific surprises in store.LIkrly the film would not have worked so well under less competent actors hands, but Anderson was wise in casting David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, Ben Kingsley, Michael Cain, Sinéad Cusack, Jason Flemyng, as well as Kate Beckinsale and Jim Sturgess.
Yes, of course you know who is the villain of the story but after series of twists and revelations, which believe me nobody can see coming, the lines are not so clear and you just have to watch the story unfold, because in one moment the status quo of the story is just completely turned upside down- in the most entertaining way I assure you.The film feature top-notch performances by brilliant actors.
Though loosely based on the short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" by Edgar Allan Poe; this will be one of the best suspense films I've watched over a couple of years combining both great plot and acting.
You'd think with Stonehearst Asylum's impressive cast (Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Kate Beckinsale...) and ominous setting it would be quite the thriller, but this movie is bland.
Stonehearst Asylum: 6 out of 10: An all-star cast (Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine etc) take on a Poe tale about an asylum for the mentally deranged which may not be as it seems.
Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) is a mental health patient prodded and probed rather unmercilessly by the doctor who supposedly cares for her.Later on a young enthusiastic medic, Doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) arrives at the remote misty Stonehearst Asylum.
Somewhere among the ongoing madness Newgate takes an interest with the beautiful Eliza Graves but he needs to escape for his own safety.The film is based on an Edgar Allen Poe short story but it is a bit too flabby, relies too much on the cruel treatment of the insane and then settles on stereotype behaviour from the inmates.
there's not much mystery or suspense in this movie either.Don't get me wrong this is a solid story with a great cast of British actors, including good performances from Kate Beckinsale as Eliza Graves, Ben Kingsley as Silas Lamb, David Thewlis as Mickey Finn, Jason Flemyng as Swanwick, and Jim Sturgess as Edward Newgate.
Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Brendon Gleeson, Kate Beckinsale, Jim Sturgess, David Thewlis are all actors that don't need much effort to make it a believable story.
Its star power and great original source make for a great mystery thriller and while it doesn't necessary produce genuine terror, it will most likely be pleasant to horror genre enthusiasts.The story revolves around a new doctor Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) as he visits the titular asylum only to find that the institution harbors illicit secrets, and most importantly a certain beauty Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale).
It didn't get a major theater release (did it come to any theaters at all?) despite having a great story and an excellent cast.For a basic plot summary, this movie takes place at an insane asylum just as the 19th century is turning into the 20th.
Some twists and turns, a little bit of humor, a few slightly gruesome parts but nothing horrible.The acting was top notch, especially Ben Kingsly as "Silas Lamb", the man in charge of Stonehearst Asylum, and of course Michael Caine was great as always.
The story contains enough twists and turns to stay interesting and it has a satisfying ending.I recently watched a documentary about the popularity of performing lobotomies up until something like 50 years ago, and I found this film to all the more relevant and believable due to that fact.I loved the Gothic renaissance style wardrobe and production design and though that many scenes had a great feel and style.
The movie is well cast, and the director was very creative with developing the different characters in the asylum.Edgar Allen Poe's story holds up surprisingly well in modern times, and makes for a great movie, that deals with issues still very relevant today.
I loved "Stonehearst Asylum" and consider it on top of the best films I've ever seen.I really had a great time enjoying this smart movie.It is brilliant psychological thriller movie.The story was very strong with interesting twists till the last moment of the film.I liked the characters and especially the lovely couple Jim Sturgess and Kate Beckinsale.It definitely deserves 10/10.I highly recommend it :).
That's the questions it wants to pose to us, and at points it does, but for the most part it's just a great thrill ride that often makes no sense at all but is always enjoyable.Stonehearst Asylum attempts to give us a riddle to solve that links back into the bigger questions of the movie, but in truth no one cares for them, because we get so wrapped up in the shared fun of the film that we can't help but ignore anything that will take away from it, like continuity or a plot.
That in a nutshell is the story, apart from we are missing the tiny point that EVERYONE is MENTAL in it, and when you think of the names attached to the piece it's quite surprising.Firstly we have (and I should state that everyone I'm about to mention is either: out right mad, accused of being mad or pretends to be mad) Brendan Gleeson who turns up for 5 minutes at the beginning and the end of the movie, and then we have (in no real order) Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, David Thewlis and Jason Flemyng, all of whom play nutters.Any one of those cast members could carry a movie alone, but to see them all together in such incidental small parts is baffling.Stonehearst Asylum is a film that embraces what is it, and that's a fun, crazy, surreal, thriller that has an all-star casts and a plot that doesn't just goes off the rails but starts a new track, all aboard, next stop the looney bin!.
On IMDb, Stonehearst Asylum is described perfectly in one sentence: "An Oxford graduate takes up a job in a mental asylum, only to discover that the new treatments are inhumane and there is more going on than meets the eye." That's all you need to know before watching this film, besides the all-star cast: Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, David Thewlis, Brendan Gleeson, and Sinead Cusack.
The Call director Brad Anderson returns to the helm for this psychological thriller loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether, and centered on the experiences of a Harvard Medical School graduate (Jim Sturgess) who becomes obsessed with a mental patient named Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale) while working at a mental asylum that's been taken over by the inmates.
The movie is supposed to be a scary thriller but it's narrative is just lost in it's translation at least that's how I felt it was mostly just surrounded with cool name actors who do give a good performances from the likes of Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine and Kate Beckinsale and the production design is pretty okay but that's just it.
From Mel Gibson as a producer to the main cast (Kate Beckinsale, Ben Kingsley and Michael Caine) to the book it was based upon by Edgar Allen Poe; this movie lined up big shots.The setting is 1899 England when mental and psychological problems were still a relative unknown.
The Movie has a great cast(Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley), a intelligent story loosely based on the short story "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether" by Edgar Allan Poe, and is very well directed.Its one those Movies you will remember much longer than your typical summer Blockbuster with too much CGI and unnecessary over the top action.If you give this Movie a chance it will take you back to the late 19th Century.Amazing Film 8/10.
Inspired by a short story from Edgar Allan Poe, Stonehearst Asylum is a film of a collection of different genres.Previously known as Eliza Graves,it features Kate Beckinsale together with Jim Sturgess, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, and David Thewlis.Brad Anderson directed it.Young doctor Edward Newgate arrives at Stonehearst Asylum in search of an apprenticeship.He is welcomed by Dr.Lamb and a beautiful woman,Eliza Graves.Edward gets exposed Dr. Lamb's methods of treating mentally ill patients that leads him to discover various things that are happening inside the asylum as well as the hidden mystery behind Eliza.While it is far from a classic,it manages to be a fun film of different genres.It manages to balance humor,melodrama,romance,thriller and horror which becomes a wonderful achievement of the director,Anderson.As for the performances,the cast did very well despite the fact that there was nothing really outstanding or award-winning in it.Besides,the cast are known to be outstanding in their careers.One would surely be entertained watching it..
Then, set the film in a creepy turn of the 20th century insane asylum, and cast Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine and Brendan Gleeson, and consider me exceptionally excited.From the opening moments, there is a certain nostalgic or throwback feel.It recalls the "B" movie feel of so many from the 40's and 50's that I grew up watching on late night TV.