What’s it about?
A whimsical look at how Dr Mortimer Granville devised the invention of the first vibrator in the name of medical science.
What did we think?
It’s true doctors used to diagnose Hysteria as a catch-all for women in the 19th century and true that sometimes manual manipulation of the vulva was prescribed as a treatment, so why not make a romantic comedy about it? 0_o Hysteria takes liberties with history but never pretends to be anything but playful so it’s easy to forgive especially in the light of the performances of Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rupert Everett.
Despite my dislike of anachronistic events on film, I quite enjoyed this titillating comedy that managed both laughter and solid characterisations.
What? No jokes about getting a buzz out of it? It’s about vibrators!
Personally I thought it a slightly hollow movie and was a bit like masturbation: it’s pleasurable but at the end of it all it’s not quite as good as the real thing.