Review of Stonehearst Asylum (2014) by Quincytheodore — 04 Feb 2015

It's a terrifying idea that we can't trust medical professionals, let alone professionals of mental institution, in secluded England rural of last century no less. The movie plays with this innate distress particularly well, although it does venture to more preposterous realm sometimes. 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). With other cast such as Ben Kingsley, Michael Caine and David Thewlis, the film has an edge for acting. Kate Beckinsale is superb here, she's an enigmatic enchanting damsel-in-distress. She could just simply standing and already a good cast for wallflower character, add the mysterious touch of alluring personality, Eliza is as good as female lead as any you could hope for.

The others deliver stellar performance as well. Ben Kinsley and Michael Caine create less than sensible figure of authority with questionable methods, although Ben Kingsley does resemble his character in Shutter Island a bit too much. David Thewlis as the more roguish caretaker has whimsical threatening poise, but this eccentricity doesn't really exemplify a fully villainous antagonist personality. The film script is elegant and the venerable cast has no problem on delivering it in the same fashion.

Cinematography works in the confined space, the asylum feels claustrophobic and inescapable. The movie sets a tone of doubt from its depiction of insanity and the mystery of who are plagued by it, along with the near tortuous alleged cure of such illness. However, the exaggerated tone occasionally becomes too silly for its own good, it has goes beyond quirky to just plain ridiculousness. In this case, more restraint to the wicked would've been better.

During the tour it feels as though Stonehearst Asylum could've been more polished, but its clever twists, excellent assembly and Kate Beckinsale in the green dress are more than enough reasons for a visit.