Stonehearst Asylum follows the plot of Edgar Allen Poe's short story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether. It is a story about Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess) - a medical school graduate in the 19th Century who travels to the titular Asylum to gain 'clinical experience'. It is here that Newgate meets Silas Lamb (Ben Kingsley) and Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale), the latter of which he becomes instantly infatuated with. Almost at once, things start to creepy as Edward encounters some of the inmates and realises that perhaps his new colleges are not entirely concerned with following regulations. As the plot thickens and Edward finds himself spiralling further down the rabbit hole, the questions seem pile up. Why does one of the inmates claim to be the asylum's superintendent? Why are the doctors so gleeful when using such barbaric 'treatments'? And why does the man in charge seem so adamant that 'we're all mad'?
In addition to those already mentioned, the film stars Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges, Troy) and Michael Cain (The Dark Knight Trilogy, The Prestige). The film comes from director Brad Anderson (The Machinist) as he continues to step away from directing episodes of popular shows like The Wire and Boardwalk Empire.
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Caine, Jim Sturgess, Ben Kingsley, David Thewlis, Jason Flemyng, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Sinead Cusack, Edmund Kingsley, Velizar Binev, Christopher Fulford, Guillaume Delaunay, Anton Poriazov, Robert Hands