AllMovie

As directed by Alice Winocour, this period drama travels back to the Belle Époque of 1890s France for an intense chronicle of a young woman's sexual awakening. Soko stars as Augustine, a 19-year-old servant at an upper-crust home in Paris. One night, she lapses into a seizure while serving dinner, and the homeowners promptly have her shipped off to the Pitié-Salpêtriere Psychiatric Hospital, where numerous women are being treated for hysteria. Augustine catches the eye of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot (Vincent Lindon), especially after he notices that her seizures are accompanied by intense bouts of physical pleasure. Fascinated, the doctor begins using the young woman for neurological experiments set up to study behavior under hypnosis. Over time, the dividing line between professional and personal begins to blur and the two are transitioned from doctor and patient to erotically intertwined lovers. Meanwhile, Augustine begins to subtly assume control over her circumstances.