Hysteria in Theaters This Weekend

by The Hairpin Sponsors

Director Tanya Wexler’s new film HYSTERIA looks and feels like the classic, sumptuous Victorian period piece we’ve all come to know and love, but the heart of the film is an irreverent, hilarious, and surprisingly modern story about the invention of the vibrator.

“We knew that we’d have to find a unique tone,” says Wexler, “Because while it might be a 19th Century story, it’s a subject that still makes us blush in 2012. The fun was in creating a kind of lush, Merchant Ivory reality on the surface, but with a hilarious, unbridled comedy running underneath.”

Set in the 1880s, just as a flurry of newfangled gadgets and inventions was forging the world as we know it, the film follows the historic creation of the best selling domestic appliance that dared not announce its true purpose: the electrical vibrator. What emerges is more than a playful comic romp; HYSTERIA is a fesity love story and a trip into hidden history, an exploration of women’s passion, and a celebration of the forward-thinking spirit that has always kept human progress buzzing.

With a cast led by Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal and leading man Hugh Dancy, the film’s Victorian past resonates with questions that still preoccupy us today — about sexual attitudes, men and women, and how to lead a satisfying life.

The movie opens in Los Angeles and New York City on May 18, and is coming soon to other cities near you. Stay updated with news and events on the Hysteria Facebook page: For example, director Tanya Wexler will be popping up all over New York this weekend to talk about the movie.