A young psychiatrist applies for a job at a mental asylum, and must pass a test by interviewing four patients. He must figure out which of the patients, is in fact, the doctor that he would be replacing if hired.
The film, with its uniformly terrific cast, stern Gothic overtones and steady but measured pacing, is a crisp, old-fashioned delight, eschewing cheap tricks for repeated tiny pricks of unease that work up to a continuous gnawing dread.
– Connie Ogle,
Miami Herald,
2 Sep 2005
rotten:
Once characters' actions lose credibility, it's hard to empathize with them, no matter how well the roles are played.
– Jeff Strickler,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
15 Sep 2005
fresh:
It's a movie you fall for or you don't, and like Stella, I am not ashamed I did.
– Terry Lawson,
Detroit Free Press,
16 Sep 2005
fresh:
Patrick McGrath's screenplay, based on his novel, has moments big and small, delivered in appropriate dollops of awfulness.
– Tom Long,
Detroit News,
16 Sep 2005
rotten:
Asylum had promise. But it's bad enough to make one wonder just who had the loose screws -- the characters, or the people who filmed them?