''Asylum'' is a 2005

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by David Mackenzie and made by Mace Neufeld Productions, Samson Films,

Seven Arts Productions Seven Arts Productions was a production company which made films for release by other studios. It was founded in 1957 by Eliot Hyman, Ray Stark, and Norman Katz. Formation The company was formed in 1957. It came out of the company, Associa ...

, Zephyr Films Ltd and released by

Paramount Classics Paramount Vantage, Inc. (formerly known as Paramount Classics, Inc.) was a film production label of Paramount Pictures (which, in turn, has Paramount Global as its parent company), charged with producing, purchasing, distributing and marketing ...

. It is based on the 1996 novel ''

Asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea * ...

'' by Patrick McGrath and was adapted for the screen by Patrick Marber and Chrysanthy Balis. It stars

Natasha Richardson Natasha Jane Richardson (11 May 1963 – 18 March 2009) was a British actress. A part of the Redgrave family, Richardson was the daughter of actress Vanessa Redgrave and director/producer Tony Richardson and the granddaughter of Michael Redgr ...

, Marton Csokas,

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

and

Hugh Bonneville Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey'' from ...

with a cast also including

Sean Harris Sean Harris (born 1 June 1966) is an English actor. He played Ian Curtis in '' 24 Hour Party People'' (2002), Micheletto Corella in '' The Borgias'' (2011–2013), Fifield in ''Prometheus'' (2012), Solomon Lane in '' Mission: Impossible – R ...

Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland (29 February 1928 – 19 November 2023) was an English actor who appeared in more than 130 film, radio and television roles. He was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying ...

Wanda Ventham Wanda Ventham (born 5 August 1935) is an English actress with many roles on British television since beginning her career in the 1950s. Ventham played Colonel Virginia Lake in the 1970s science-fiction television series '' UFO'' and had a rec ...

Maria Aitken Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945) is a British theatre director, teacher, actress, and writer. As an actress, Aitken has been twice nominated at the Olivier Awards, in 1980 for ''Private Lives'' and in 1985 for ''Wast ...

and

Judy Parfitt Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film, and television actress. She made her film debut in the 1950s, followed by a supporting role in the BBC television serial ''David Copperfield'' (1966). She also ap ...

Plot summary

''Asylum'' is set in Britain in the early 1960s. It tells the story of Stella Raphael (Natasha Richardson), the bored and unfulfilled wife of Max (Hugh Bonneville), a psychiatrist working at a remote mental asylum. Stella starts a passionate affair with Edgar (Marton Csokas), one of the patients. Edgar is particularly dangerous, having gruesomely murdered his wife in a jealous rage. Not deterred by Edgar's violent past, Stella is beguiled by Edgar's passion and the affair intensifies. Although Max suspects nothing, Dr. Peter Cleave (Sir Ian McKellen) correctly guesses that the two are seeing each other. Cleave, who is fixated on Stella himself, attempts to get Edgar to admit to the affair—to no avail. Edgar, who has been denied release, can take it no longer and breaks out of the asylum. Stella attempts to continue life without her lover, playing mother to her son, Charlie, and wife to Max. Around Christmas time, she receives a call from a friend of Edgar who arranges a rendezvous in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The affair resumes with Stella using shopping trips as a pretext for her trips to the city. Edgar soon tires of the subterfuge—as well as sharing Stella's sexual attentions with Max—and demands that she choose to stay with him permanently or not return for another visit. Shortly thereafter, Cleave confronts her, telling her that he knows that she has been going to London to see Edgar. After unsuccessfully attempting to bully Stella into revealing his whereabouts, Cleave reminds her that Max can have her committed to the hospital. Stella then runs away to join Edgar, and they begin a loose, somewhat

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

life together, remaining out of the public eye for fear of the police. Soon, the lust of the relationship begins to wear off and Stella begins to see a darker side to Edgar's personality. He becomes obsessed with his work, to Stella's chagrin. He also starts to become aggressive and violent towards her, intensifying her fear of him. After shopping one day, Stella returns to the pair's squalid studio flat to be found by police and taken back to her husband and son. Her husband struggles to forgive her but accepts that their son needs a mother figure. Edgar observes Stella's capture from the shadows and flees. Max, who has lost his position at the hospital, accepts a new job and moves the family to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Stella struggles to settle back into "normal" life with her family, trying especially hard to make amends with her son. Edgar tracks her down and a brief meeting with him results in his capture. This sends Stella further into her depressed and distracted state. On a school outing with Charlie some weeks later, Stella takes her son away from the class teacher and other children and they go into the woods together. Stella perches on a rock while Charlie searches for fish in the river. He suddenly loses his footing, falling into the river and begins to drown. Not noticing, Stella remains in a trance, not moving to help him. The class teacher arrives and attempts to help him, but Charlie is already dead. Stella is anguished over this and following this trauma, her husband and Dr. Cleave decide that she needs to be institutionalised. She is taken to the same asylum where she met Edgar. Unknown to Stella, Edgar is still held there. With the help of constant medication and care, Stella gets 'better', though she never fully recovers. She accepts Dr. Cleave's offer of a stable relationship, much to his delight, after he informs her that Max wants a divorce. At the annual ball, where male and female patients are permitted to socialise, Stella is anxious to share a dance with Edgar and desperately looks forward to seeing him. Unknown to her, Dr. Cleave prohibits Edgar from attending the ball, gloating that he and Stella are to be married. Dr. Cleave later informs Stella that Edgar will not be attending. As a nurse escorts patients back to their rooms, Stella sneaks off up a stairway leading to the roof. Before anyone notices that she has gone missing, Stella jumps off of the roof tower to the courtyard below, but she does not die immediately. Dr. Cleave rushes to her aid, but she rejects his help saying "Leave me alone." He steps away from her, and she dies from her injuries a moment later. In the final scene, Max visits the cemetery where Stella has been buried next to their son. He places a bouquet on Charlie's grave, removes one flower, and places it on the grave of his wife.

Cast

as Stella Raphael * Marton Csokas as Edgar Stark *

as Dr. Peter Cleave *

as Dr. Max Raphael *

as Nick *

as Brenda Raphael *

Gus Lewis Gus Lewis (born January 19, 1993) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the young Bruce Wayne in the 2005 film ''Batman Begins'', co-starring with Christian Bale and Michael Caine. That year, he also co-starred in the film ''Asylum'' ...

as Charlie *

as Mrs. Straffen *

as Dr. Jack Straffen *

as Claudia Greene *

Hazel Douglas Hazel Douglas (2 November 1923 – 8 September 2016) was an English actress. She portrayed Bathilda Bagshot in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1''. Her credits stretch back to the early days of television, and include ''Sund ...

as Lilly

Production

Credited as an executive producer on the film,

denied that this allowed her to dictate proceedings – even when it came to the numerous sex scenes. Richardson said David Mackenzie made it clear he wanted them to be as real as possible and that "what's in the movie compared to what they shot is the tip of the iceberg."

Reception

Box office

''Asylum'' grossed $375,403 in the United States and $1,268,960 in other countries for a worldwide total of $1,644,363.

Critical response

''Asylum'' received mostly negative reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 36%, based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "This catastrophic adaption of Patrick McGrath's novel gets sillier and more implausible as it goes along." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average of 51 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Accolades

References

External links

* *
Guardian review
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asylum (2005 Film) 2005 films 2005 romantic drama films British romantic drama films 2000s English-language films Films about suicide Films based on British novels Films directed by David Mackenzie (director) Films produced by Mace Neufeld Films scored by Mark Mancina Films set in the 1950s Films set in London Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films set in Wales Films shot in the Republic of Ireland Irish romantic drama films 2000s British films 2000s Irish films English-language romantic drama films