10 Days in a Madhouse (2015) on Netflix
Reporter Nellie Bly feigns insanity to go undercover for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. A judge commits her to the women's asylum on Blackwell's Island, where she aims to expose abuse.
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- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb5.7/102,611 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1887, Nellie Bly is 23 and writes for Joseph Pulitzer's New York World. Her editor sends her on her first undercover assignment. She pretends to be insane, is arrested, and is brought before a judge who declares her insane. That ruling sends her into the women's asylum on Blackwell's Island, run by Dr. Dent, where she lives among the patients behind walls and bars. She keeps her identity as a reporter hidden while she gathers evidence of corruption, abuse and murder.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about 10 Days in a Madhouse (2015)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- 10 Days in a Madhouse was a box office flop, grossing only $12,165 against a reported $12 million production budget; its final domestic receipts came to $14,616.
- The film shot at an abandoned mental institution in Salem, Oregon, a location known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with no electricity, so actors performed in 10 degree temperatures. Caroline Barry said the cold added depth to the performances.
- Caroline Barry won the starring role of Nellie Bly from an online audition, only two months after she moved from Colorado to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
- Kelly Le Brock had only 12 hours to prepare after being cast; she drew on her experience with mental illness among her past stalkers and on earlier roles playing a nurse.
- The film draws from Bly's book Ten Days in a Mad-House, which led to significant reforms in the treatment of mental health patients.
