Maggie Gyllenhaal must like sex and England, or at least that's the conclusion I've come to looking at her resume, which includes such sauciness as Secretary and the recent blighty based Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (which may sound like it should be about sex, but isn't). Well now it looks like she's found a way to combine the two with Hysteria, about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England.
She'll star alongside Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett and Jonathan Pryce in the film, with Dancy and Everett playing doctors treating cases of hysteria, which was the then current explanation for woman who were irritable, had massive mood swings or cried a lot. They come up with a new vibrating device they think will help, with the idea being the women need sexual release (indeed, in Victorian days, one of the common treatments for hysteria was for a doctor to manually relieve his patient). Gyllenhaal will be one of those in need of a vibrator, with Pryce as her father.
Tanya Wexler will direct, with shooting expected to begin in October. (Source: Variety)