Augustine (2013)

79% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
48% of users liked it
(354 ratings)

After suffering an inexplicable seizure which leaves her paralyzed on her right side,19-year-old illiterate kitchen maid Augustine (27 year-old singer-turned-actress Soko in a break out performance), is shipped off to Paris' all female psychiatric hospital Pitié-Salpêtriere which specializes in… More After suffering an inexplicable seizure which leaves her paralyzed on her right side,19-year-old illiterate kitchen maid Augustine (27 year-old singer-turned-actress Soko in a break out performance), is shipped off to Paris' all female psychiatric hospital Pitié-Salpêtriere which specializes in detecting the then-fashionable ailment of 'hysteria'. Augustine captures the attention of Dr. Charcot (Vincent Lindon, Mademoiselle Chambon, Welcome) after a seizure which appears to give her intense physical pleasure. Intrigued, he begins using her as his principal subject hypnotizing her in front of fellow doctors - as she displays her spectacular fits in lecture halls - and eventually blurring the lines between doctor and patient. (c) Music Box Films

Directed By: Alice Winocour
Written By: Alice Winocour
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: May 17, 2013 Limited
Studio: Music Box Films

Critic Reviews

Stanley Kauffmann, The New Republic
The writer-director Alice Winocour creates a kind of subdued excitement of discovery.
John Anderson, Newsday
The hysterics contained in Alice Winocour's "Augustine" -- and "hysteria" is what it's about -- can't obscure the understated, smoldering subtext of what is a sometimes playfully smart and irony-laden story.
Richard Brody, New Yorker
Vague conjurings of mood take the place of insight, sentiment takes the place of complexity, and a clumsy and superficial attention to the rigid script keeps the movie from coming to life.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
A dark, and rather disturbing debut.
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post
Winocour skillfully films Augustine being exhibited for other doctors in several disturbingly erotic scenes, but elsewhere Soko's stolid, one-note demeanor takes a toll.
John Anderson, Wall Street Journal
Soko is terrific, but it is Mr. Lindon who delivers the performance of the film, his internalized consternation amounting to an eloquent dispatch from the war between the sexes.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Emotionally believable performances by Vincent Lindon and Soko can't save Augustine from meandering and being tediously stuck in its 1st act.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Hand-held camera gives contemporary realism amidst the historically correct costumes and surroundings. . .[but] feminist iconography . . .makes the phenomenon seem a charade.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
[VIDEO ESSAY] Newcomer director Alice Winocour drafts an erotically charged and socially complex telling of a controversial 19th century neurologist and the nubile patient he treats.
Nathan Southern, TV Guide's Movie Guide
It would be fascinating to know what the writer/director intended here, because the material is so hopelessly muddled.
Chris Barsanti, Film Journal International
A lushly filmed, fascinating true story about the relationship between a groundbreaking French doctor and his "hysteric" female patient buries itself with a simplistic approach and deadly-dull dialogue.
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club
Its world is small but convincing.
Tomas Hachard, Slant Magazine
Alice Winocour's take on this true story carries the superficial trappings of a period drama, but its perspective is entirely contemporary.
Staci Layne Wilson, StaciWilson.com
As the plot unfolds, the aim comes undone, leaving the viewer abandoned and wanting.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Writer-director Alice Winocour takes the relationship into some uncomfortable places, and Soko and Lindon both give nuanced performances, with much roiling beneath the surface.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Carlos M

This almost-good drama is a missed opportunity, considering the intriguing premise and the talent of the actors involved. What could have been a fascinating exploration of a psychological illness gives place to too much clichéd doctor-patient sexual tension.
Walter M

The movie starts with Augustine(Soko), a maid, feeling unwell while preparing to serve that night's dishes. Still, the show must go on, which turns out to be a mistake when she has a seizure on the dining room floor between courses. The following day when one of her eyes is… More
The movie starts with Augustine(Soko), a maid, feeling unwell while preparing to serve that night's dishes. Still, the show must go on, which turns out to be a mistake when she has a seizure on the dining room floor between courses. The following day when one of her eyes is still closed shut, her cousin brings her to a nearby hospital. Instead of a quick examination and treatment, Augustine is disappointed to hear that she will be admitted, and soon informed that she will also be expected to work. And as far as praying goes, she is told not to appeal to the usual person, but to somebody more local in the person of Dr. Charcot(Vincent Lindon) who finally takes notice of her when she has another seizure. "Augustine" starts well enough with its copious period detail, some implied like the level of ignorance, such as Augustine not knowing what menstruation is. Mostly the target is the patriarchy of the period, especially with women under the watchful gaze of the men.(And we all know the corset was the work of the devil, right?) As fascinating as this is and even with the great Vincent Lindon on the job, the movie never really catches fire until the climax when in quick succession and with the aid of a few well-timed furtive glances, the apple cart is not only upturned but pretty much also tossed down a flight of stairs before being hit by an oncoming vehicle.

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Augustine (2013)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Carlos M

Walter M

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