Asylum: Synopsis

Short Synopsis
Set in 1950s England, ASYLUM, a tale of erotic obsession, tells the story of Stella Raphael (Natasha Richardson), a restless, beautiful woman who desperately desires to find in romantic love the one thing that will change everything.

When her husband Max (Hugh Bonneville), an ambitious forensic psychiatrist, is appointed Deputy Superintendent at a high-security psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane, Stella and her young son come with him to live on the grounds. Being in proximity of madness has a dangerous attraction for this woman; with its eerie, gothic beauty and endless echoing corridors, the institution itself seems to draw Stella in.

Then she meets inmate Edgar Stark (Marton Csokas), an artist confined for murdering his wife in a jealous rage. There is a visceral connection between the two. Stella finds release and a sense of herself reborn in Edgar’s embrace. Senior physician Peter Cleave (Ian McKellen), long in line for the position to which Max has been promoted, watches carefully as Stella and Edgar bond -- “ sexual pathology” is his particular field of interest. The cunning Dr. Cleave is a master observer, one who especially prides himself on manipulation.

Stella is now the center of attention for three men, each of whom desires to possess her: the husband, the lover and the doctor. When Edgar escapes the asylum and their secret affair is revealed, Stella determines to continue on with her lover, no matter what the cost. What began as a fierce brave step towards freedom now threatens to bring Stella to other, even more intense forms of confinement. Having taken the risk, there is no turning back.

Long Synopsis
Dr. Max Raphael, his wife Stella and their young son Charlie arrive at the imposing gates of a high-security mental hospital in the rolling hills of Yorkshire. The year is 1959. The impressive institution, marked by gothic beauty and harsh regimen, is devoted to the care and confinement of the criminally insane. Max’s new position as deputy superintendent of the hospital is a significant professional advance: the move out of the city is also meant to be a fresh start for a family in trouble. A house with a garden and a conservatory is part of the deal, situated on the grounds of the institution itself.

Beautiful and high-strung, Stella Raphael is unhappy in a marriage that seems cold and restricted; she lacks the complacency and smugness of the other doctor’s wives. Stella finds herself drawn to the mystery of the asylum itself, fascinated with the place and the dark histories of its inmates. She is very much out-of-place among the other doctors’ wives, while Max’s dedication to work and routine leaves ten-year-old Charlie with little human contact.

At a welcoming garden party given by superintendent Jack Straffen, Stella fails to hide her dissatisfaction. Rescue comes in the form of the urbane and witty bachelor, Dr. Peter Cleave, who has served at the hospital for decades and prides himself in taking particular interest in “the extreme cases”. Cleave is a first rate source of gossip; Stella sees in him both a confidante and a co-conspirator. Max advises her to be wary of the acerbic Cleave, whom he views as a disappointed rival driven by professional jealousy.

One afternoon, Charlie interrupts his mother’s gardening to introduce her to a new friend, inmate Edgar Stark. A promising sculptor before his confinement, Edgar has been assigned the task of repairing the Raphaels’ conservatory. In a “test of strength” that involves lifting Charlie while Stella counts the seconds, Edgar demonstrates a virile mix of intensity and calm, well past what the overworked Max is capable of providing. Charlie seems quite taken with this charismatic man; Stella finds herself caught up in his gaze, returning his frank and direct look as long as she dares. That night Stella asks her husband whether Edgar is “safe”; Max dismisses her concern with blithe assurance.

Intrigued now, Stella returns to the conservatory to talk with Edgar, who tells her with matter-of-fact calm that he has been at the asylum for six years. His crime was killing his wife. Ever the persistent observer, Cleave interrupts their conversation, and later tells Stella that Edgar was an absolute wreck when he came under his care. Cleave is quite proud of the progress made; Stella compliments him on his good work. It is as if the two are beginning a subtle contest over Edgar.

When Charlie is injured in a fall from a tree, Edgar races into the house with the boy cradled in his arms. Stella feels a mix of gratitude and confusion. Edgar is now a substantial presence in her life.

Preparing to enter the hall for the annual Patient’s Ball, the one chance in the year for inmates and staff to mix socially, Max chastises Stella for her provocative choice of an evening dress, and then demands that they present a “united front”. As a Salvation Army crew plays brass band favorites, the inmates pair off, some dancing together, others lost in their own private reveries. The whole bizarre event --- respectability tinged with madness -- seems to take place under the watchful gaze of Dr Cleave. He spies Stella standing alone as Edgar approaches and, after a polite request, leads this beautiful woman out on to the dance floor.

As the band strikes up a waltz, we see the rush of desire that the slow dance provokes in Edgar. Stella responds by pulling Edgar even closer. In this instant of rising passion, there is a secret promise of bonding. At home in bed after the dance, her mind very much elsewhere, Stella has to listen as Max talks with rising excitement about his chances to succeed Straffen.

In the light of day, recognizing that her attraction to an inmate is dangerously inappropriate, Stella resolves to ignore him. Edgar, however, finds an opportunity to make an apology, urging Stella to accept a bunch of flowers. Aching dissatisfaction and restless need continue to build inside her. One summer day, Stella heads straight for the half-glassed-in greenhouse in the garden, where she and Edgar make passionate and urgent love.

It is the first time, but not to be the only one. Rules have been broken; boundaries transgressed. The connection between Stella and Edgar soon turns obsessive, a game they proceed to play for very high stakes.

In his regular session with Edgar, Cleave inquires just how he is “finding Mrs. Raphael”. Edgar doesn’t rise to the bait, but is soon filled with banked resentment when Cleave suggests that after years of treatment his recovery has not as yet progressed to the point where release could even be discussed.

Max’s regal and judgmental mother Brenda comes for a visit, ratcheting up the tension for Stella, who is now living a perilous double life. When the subject of Edgar comes up at a dinner party, Cleave notes with smooth disdain that Edgar is likely to be at the asylum for a very long time. Stella snaps back at the whole group, attacking their smug pleasure in “locking the door and throwing away the key”. Max seethes and later furiously upbraids Stella for speaking her mind.

While Edgar observes their departure, Brenda takes Charlie on a drive into town, Stella is soon shocked to see Edgar entering her bedroom. She at first tries to discourage him, but then the two touch. Lovemaking is more open more tender than it could be before. Their passion is suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening; Stella’s mother-in-law has forgotten her checkbook and returned to the house with Charlie.

As Brenda rummages in the guestroom, Edgar puts on one of Max’s suits and hurries down the stairs. Charlie sees him but Edgar silently asks that the boy not give him away. When Brenda and Charlie drive off again, Edgar is hiding in the trunk of the car.

On the road, Brenda demands to know why Charlie is so upset. The boy admits he has seen a man leaving his mother’s bedroom. As Brenda rapidly turns the car around, Edgar leaps out of the trunk and rolls into a ditch. Charlie sees this and later tells his father. The hospital administration immediately goes on red alert, fearful of press recriminations and scandal. Cleave uses the situation as an opportunity to let Max demonstrate his failings as both husband and administrator.

A month passes. For Charlie’s sake, Stella and Max enter a period of guarded, distant truce. Stella continues to obsess about Edgar, troubled by the thought that that he was merely using her as a means of orchestrating his escape. Cleave suggests that Stella should unburden herself to him, but she declines.

After receiving a mysterious telephone call, Stella announces to Max that she is going down to London to do some early Christmas shopping. In the city, with the help of a shaggy former student of Edgar’s named Nick, she goes to a derelict warehouse where she has a passionate reunion with Edgar.

The following week, Stella makes another day trip. When Max suspiciously confronts her on her return, demanding to see the spoils of her shopping expedition, she takes a Harrods bag from its hiding place and brandishes a pair of silk pyjamas she has bought as his Christmas present.

Next time in London, Edgar issues Stella an ultimatum: he can’t share her with her husband. Stella must make her choice. Back at the asylum, Cleave has learned from her housekeeper that Mrs. Raphael has been making regular trips to the city. He tries to reason with Stella to no avail, then changes tack, telling her in chilling detail how Edgar murdered and mutilated his wife. When this too fails to achieve the intended result, Cleave suggests that he can arrange for Stella to be locked away -- for her own “safety”. That evening, Stella packs her things. Leaving a note for Charlie, she again takes the train to London.

This time, she is leaving for good. Edgar, Stella and Nick form an unholy trio in the bohemian squalor of the derelict warehouse. Edgar sketches Stella, then obsessively crafts studies for a sculpture of her. Edgar and Stella now have full opportunity to explore their passion. However, the morbid jealousy that betrayed Edgar before and led to the death of his wife quickly begins to rise to the surface. Edgar’s insatiable suspicion soon seems to rule him, blocking his work, clotting all feelings except rage. He explodes at Nick, who warns Stella to protect herself and get away from this man. Stella stays loyal. She wants to help Edgar, not abandon him. In a moment of remorse after he has attacked her, even Edgar tells her it is safer to go away.

Stella leaves the warehouse to think things through. When she returns, the police are there. Edgar has gone on the run. Stella is taken into custody. Cleave soon comes down to London to examine the rooms the fugitive lovers inhabited. He examines nude sketches of Stella and takes away with him a small clay model that Edgar has made of Stella’s head.

As Max drives Stella (released by the police to his care) back to the country she learns that their destination is no longer the asylum. The scandal of her affair has cost Max his job. He has been lucky enough to find a new post at a hospital in a remote and forbidding section of Wales -- a huge step down for a proud and ambitious man. Straffen has retired and Cleave has taken over as successor at the asylum.

In the grim new house in Wales, Stella is at first disconsolate, but then summons up resources and begins to rebuild her connection with Charlie. Yet fugitive Edgar seeks out Stella. The lovers arrange a frantic meeting at which Stella tells Edgar she cannot run away and abandon Charlie again only to discover they have been surrounded by the police. Edgar is captured and taken away. Stella is returned to Max, who orders her to put Edgar once and for all in the past.

Stella and Charlie go on a school field trip. Clutching a jam jar, Charlie begins to search for fish in the river. His mother sits on the bank, seeming to watch over her son but completely lost in her own thoughts. Charlie slips and starts to struggle in the water—yet his mother does not respond, not until the schoolmaster’s frantic shouting brings her out of her dream state. Realization comes too late for Stella. The worst thing imaginable has happened: Charlie has drowned. Stella appears to have done nothing to save him. Following the boy’s funeral, a shattered Max declares he wants nothing more to do with Stella. She now returns to the asylum -- this time as a patient.

As an expert in the “extreme cases”, Cleave pays particular attention to Stella’s recovery. Edgar is again held at the asylum, but when Stella asks his whereabouts, Cleave refuses to tell her. The doctor has his own agenda -- he wants Stella as his permanent companion. Mourning Charlie deep in her heart, yet still desperately fixated on Edgar, Stella realizes that pleasing Cleave is the only way to make contact with the man she now loves without limitation. Cleave asks Stella to marry him and is overwhelmed with emotion when she accepts. When Cleave tells Edgar the news, he is so amazed he breaks his silence. The lovers hope to use Cleave to re-unite, but he denies them that opportunity. At the end of the dance, when her hopes to see Edgar have again been dashed, Stella slips away, climbs to the top of the asylum clock tower and throws herself over the edge. Her last words are to Dr. Cleave: “Leave me alone.”