Hysteria

This British-set comedy (the production is American) is set in Victorian Britain and is set to the backdrop of the treatment of ‘female hysteria’ by genital massaging and the subsequent invention of the vibrator to help male doctors give their hands a rest. The main character is Dr Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy), who in 1883 filed a patent for an electric vibrator known ominously as ‘Granville’s Hammer’. It seems that the makers of this film, directed by Tanya Wexler, have given their historical tale a romantic angle by having Granville develop a liking for both of his boss’s daughters played by the British actress Felicity Jones and the American star Maggie Gyllenhaal.