Asylum
Paramount Classics | Release Date: August 12, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
18
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
A film that takes you by surprise, refusing to relinquish its grim, fascinating hold. Better yet, it has crept up on us without much advance promotional fanfare. The less known about its twists, the better. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
David Mackenzie, who directed the remarkable Scottish drama "Young Adam" (2003), delivers another masterful, disturbing tale of illicit passion, erotic obsession, and sudden death set in the 1950s. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
It's one of the year's signature film experiences. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Patrick McGrath's novel provides a solid and suspenseful story, even if it loses much of its bite in Mackenzie's hands. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
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. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The delectably atmospheric Asylum remains gothic to its morally maggoty core. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Asylum is as dark as Dracula's mood on a moonless night, and people suffering from depression should think twice before opening the coffin. This thing would put off Mary Poppins. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Natasha Richardson glides through the film version of Patrick McGrath's novel Asylum in various states of fear, desire and undress, a swan among Yorkshire frumps. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A classy unintentional hoot. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Mackenzie's film could almost use one or two lurid touches in place of its stately distance. Then again, a more stylized approach might have allowed less room for Richardson, whose unsparing performance makes other elements almost irrelevant. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna Smith
It may not be as daring as Young Adam, but this is a well-performed adaptation of an absorbing melodrama. Read full review
50
VarietyEddie Cockrell
Overly plotted erotic drama. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Mackenzie and Marber opt for an anonymous viewpoint of clinical detachment, which generates about the same psychodramatic tension as reading the "DSM-IV." Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Nothing wrecks the mood of a high-toned British period piece about erotic obsession quicker than an unintentional laugh. In which case, prepare for Asylum to be derailed by snorts in all the wrong places. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
I hope to God that Patrick McGrath's novel Asylum, about a bunch of repressed Brits manipulating the stuffing out of one another in a 1950s psychiatric hospital, is better than the shallowly competent exercise in nastiness that British director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Patrick Marber have made of it. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The strong cast keeps the material from descending into sheer smutty tripe, but it's an uphill battle and in the end, not really worth their considerable efforts. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
McKellen, Csokas, Bonneville and particularly Richardson are so good and convincing in their characterizations that you can almost overlook the increasingly unbelievable twists that Asylum takes. Almost. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
The best you can say of Asylum is that it plays like a topless "Twilight Zone." Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's an overwrought Gothic melodrama that has a nice first act before it descends into shameless absurdity. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
Much of the dialogue is scissor-sharp--you would expect no less of Marber, who wrote "Closer"--but he is up against blunt and obvious material. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Alternately tedious, cliched and unintentionally funny. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleJonathan Curiel
Mostly meets expectations. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
McKellen's actions are queerly unpredictable (pun intended), but every plot other twist is portentously foreshadowed. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A psychological thriller without bothering much with psychology. Come to think of it, the thrills are pretty much missing, as well. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Dreary, claustrophobic drama. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
It's too over-the-top, too lurid and at times simply too silly to represent any kind of valid commentary on the repressive '50s or the way in which institutions tend to destroy rather than cure. "Far From Heaven," which nailed '50s angst to perfection, Asylum could not be farther from. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
Ms. Richardson and Mr. Csokas are sunk mainly by the script (it's the handiwork of "Closer" playwright Patrick Marber and Chrysanthy Balis) and by their complete lack of chemistry. Still, their performances do them no credit.
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's just so darn annoying to watch this attractive, seemingly smart woman throw her life away for some (admittedly rather hot) sex in the greenhouse. Read full review
10
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Shouldn't fool viewers into thinking it's anything but a pseudo-artsy piece of tripe. Read full review
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