The line separating the sane with the mad is very thin, and this is what "Asylum" is about: We watch the story of Stella (Richardson), the wife of psychiatrist max Raphael (Bonneville), who falls in passionate love with Edgar (Csokas), one of his patients. Her passion leads her to reckless actions in the beginning, and gradually starts to gravely impair her own clarity of mind with catastrophic consequences.
The subject of the film is quite intriguing, and the overall impression that the movie produces to the viewer is satisfactory. And yet, the film fails to get a "very good" or "excellent" grade: This has nothing to do with Mckenzies direction or the actors' performances, which are both good; the problem lies with the fact that from some point onwards the story starts to become quite implausible, thus putting the viewer off.
Of course, implausibility should generally not be a problem in itself when we are talking about a movie containing a fictional story. However, since "Asylum" aims to be a study of characters and minds, keeping the story plausible is an essential factor in having the viewer engaged. As soon as actions and events start to become outlandish, the viewer starts to disconnect. This is why the film gets a 6/10 when it had the potential for 1-2 more points.
The subject of the film is quite intriguing, and the overall impression that the movie produces to the viewer is satisfactory. And yet, the film fails to get a "very good" or "excellent" grade: This has nothing to do with Mckenzies direction or the actors' performances, which are both good; the problem lies with the fact that from some point onwards the story starts to become quite implausible, thus putting the viewer off.
Of course, implausibility should generally not be a problem in itself when we are talking about a movie containing a fictional story. However, since "Asylum" aims to be a study of characters and minds, keeping the story plausible is an essential factor in having the viewer engaged. As soon as actions and events start to become outlandish, the viewer starts to disconnect. This is why the film gets a 6/10 when it had the potential for 1-2 more points.