自称来自牛津大学的精神病医生兼学者爱德华·纽盖特（吉姆·斯特吉斯 Jim Sturgess 饰）辗转来到了地处偏远的斯通赫斯特精神病院，他希望跟随卓有成就的塞拉斯·莱姆教授（本·金斯利 Ben Kingsley 饰）学习相关治疗方法。塞拉斯神情阴郁，所采用的治疗方法更与当时盛行的方法迥然不同，不过似乎病患的精神状况都得到了一定程度的缓解和康复。在此期间，爱德华被美丽端庄的贵妇人伊莉莎·格拉芙（凯特·贝金赛尔 Kate Beckinsale 饰）所吸引，这名女子因心因性的歇斯底里症状饱受折磨。初来乍到的爱德华隐隐察觉这座病院的诡异之处，而他随后不久更发现了病院背后那可怕惊人的秘密…… 　　本片根据爱伦·坡的短篇小说《塔尔博士和费瑟尔教授的疗法》改编。A couple of days before 1899 Christmas, the Oxford new graduate Dr. Edward Newgate arrives at the Stonehearst Asylum to complete training for his specialty of asylum medicine. He is met by armed men who take him to Dr. Silas Lamb, who welcomes his help and takes him under his wing. Edward is shocked to see the methods that Dr Lamb uses to run this asylum. He becomes infatuated with Eliza Graves, one of the patients who is a lady of status and does not seem to belong. One night, Edward overhears a knocking from the bowels of the facility and is shocked to find that everything is not as it seems in this place and that his uneasy feelings may be justified. What will Edward Choose?