There may be no ideal time to wander into the halls of a remote Victorian-era home for the mentally impaired, but the waning days of December 1899 appear especially unfortunate.
Nevertheless, a young doctor named Edward Newgate (Jim Sturgess, from “Cloud Atlas”) arrives at Stonehearst Asylum just in time for Christmas dinner — because of austerity measures, the menu this evening includes roast squirrel. Almost the entirety of “Stonehearst Asylum” unfolds inside the place, so we have plenty of time to consider the dismal setting and the wretched circumstances of the inhabitants.
Still, Newgate is taken under the wing of the hospital’s director, Dr. Lamb (Ben Kingsley), an intense sort who seems open to new ways of treating his patients. Another bright spot is a patient, Mrs. Eliza Graves (Kate Beckinsale), imprisoned here for reasons that would hardly be considered insane in another era: She’s been abused by her husband and rendered sensitive to touch.
If this movie doesn’t have too many actual surprises in store, it at least benefits from a certain novelty factor — who makes period horror features based on Edgar Allan Poe stories anymore? That alone buys “Stonehearst” some goodwill, even if its initial intrigue gives way to pedestrian storytelling of the “Why didn’t he just do this?” variety.
Director Brad Anderson, whose curious career has often veered into the twilight zone (“The Machinist,” “Transsiberian”), goes all in with the shadowy corners and steampunk devices. It follows that there is a dungeon below the asylum, and yes, it does hold secrets.
Other than the old reliable topic of whether the patients are saner than the doctors, “Stonehearst Asylum” is content to rely on its atmosphere, actors, and a couple of gimmicks to get by.
The deadly earnestness of Sturgess and Beckinsale means we have to look around for more extravagant turns, including David Thewlis as a creepy handyman, Sophie Kennedy Clark (from “Nymphomaniac”) as a lovestruck nurse, and Michael Caine and Sinead Cusack as voices of reason.
And Kingsley, of course, whose temperature is always on boil — you really can imagine his character scuttling around a Poe story. Even for genre fans, though, the action here will feel hackneyed. Nothing wrong with being old-fashioned, but few movies can recover from stodginess.
“Stonehearst Asylum” (2 stars)
A visitor (Jim Sturgess) to a Victorian asylum is entranced by a patient (Kate Beckinsale) and intrigued by the chief doctor (Ben Kingsley). This adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story is old-fashioned to the point of stodginess, despite the shadowy atmosphere.
Rating: PG-13, for violence, subject matter
Showing: AMC Southcenter 16
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