Asylum

I have biased opinions here being a fan of Patrick McGrath's written work so I'll say this right off, if you found SPIDER slow don't even think of bothering with ASYLUM. Set in 50's England, the sadly late Natasha Richardson stars as a lady who undergoes a sexual awakening of dire proportions. The wife of a psychiatrist stationed to a institution for the criminaly insane she soon finds hersef embroiled in an affair with one of the inmates. Sounds like a simple story but in the hands of McGrath, who was raised next to one for real where his father worked, the material takes on an air of authority and the subtleties in the story give this more weight than is often seen. David Mackenzie has an interesting directing style which work well in this enviroment and he gets solid work from his cast. It's a shame Richardson was unable to work with her husband Liam Neeson as was intended but issues with KINSEY prevented this. Just the same, we get fine performances out of Marton Csokas, Joss Ackland and the great Ian McKellen. Lot of sex in this one but like every other aspect of ASYLUM it is very stark and brutal. Look for McGrath in cameo as one of the inmates.