Hysteria

Hysteria tells the true story of how, aided by a goofy pal with a fascination for gadgets and electricity (Rupert Everett), young Granville came to invent the first vibrator. Key to this was his association with Dalrymple’s very different daughters: the well-spoken Emily (Felicity Jones) and the outspoken Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal). The result inadvertently contributed to women’s sexual independence and the coming women’s movement. (In depict­ing Mortimer’s growing partnership with Charlotte, who runs a settlement home, the film also dismantles some Victorian preju­dices regarding class.) (official distributor synopsis)