Although it has been featured in countless modern comedies, the vibrator has never gotten its own superhero-style origin story. Director Tanya Wexler has set out to change that with her new period romantic comedy Hysteria, which follows a doctor (Hugh Dancy) conducting experiments to please the ladies of London in 1880. The film premiered at TIFF to decent reviews and I was able to check it out on the festival circuit. Also starring Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett it’s an enjoyable time, but don’t go in with any preconceived notions that this will be anything like a raunchy Judd Apatow comedy, as things are kept relatively harmless within this period setting. Check out a new trailer below, along with a poster via Yahoo.

Synopsis:

London, 1880. Mortimer Granville, a dedicated and forward-thinking young doctor, is struggling to establish his career. While Granville preaches sanitation and germ theory, the old guard of doctors clinging to leeches and hacksaws, scoff at his upstart ideas, and show him the door. Granville’s fortunes change when he arrives for an interview at the well-appointed private offices of Dr. Dalrymple, London’s leading specialist in women’s medicine.

Hysteria hits theaters on May 18th, 2012 after playing at Tribeca.