Lunacy

Jean is haunted by his mother's death, noting she had been committed to a mental institution before she died. He must arrange her funeral, a grim ritual that foreshadows his fixation with confinement and mortality. The scene establishes the emotional weight that carries into the strange events to follow.

At the funeral arrangements, a man claims to be the Marquis de Sade and their uneasy bond begins. The Marquis lives in an 18th-century persona within the modern Czech Republic, drawing Jean into a dangerous alliance. Jean is pulled toward this provocative companionship despite his misgivings.

Jean witnesses through an open window the Marquis's blasphemous orgy, a sight that horrifies and unsettles him. The debauched display foreshadows the moral chaos that will surround Jean. The Marquis's libertine world clashes with Jean's fragile sense of reality.

The following day, the Marquis chokes on a banana and dies. Jean is dragged at gunpoint to assist in burying the coffin in the family mausoleum. This forced task binds Jean to the macabre drama and its consequences.

The next morning, the bell wakes them and, after opening the mausoleum stone, the Marquis reveals it was all an elaborate prank. He uses the staged burial to force Jean to confront his childhood trauma. The prank introduces a therapeutic twist that will haunt Jean.

The Marquis explains that Jean's mother died after being buried alive, a memory he relives as a therapeutic exercise. The revelation links Jean's trauma to the past and frames the events as a controlled psychodrama. This moment deepens Jean's vulnerability to suggestion and manipulation.

The Marquis proposes therapy: Jean should voluntarily commit himself to an asylum run by Dr. Murlloppe, who offers 'Purgative Therapy' for people who could become mad. This marks a shift from haunted memory to institutional treatment. Jean is drawn toward this option by the chance to end his nightmares.

Jean meets a beautiful nurse named Charlota, who claims she is being held at the hospital against her will. Her allure pulls him in as she hints at the asylum's secrets. This connection sets the stage for further revelations and danger.

Charlota tells Jean that Murlloppe and the Marquis were previous patients who led a revolt and locked the real asylum employees in the basement. This paints the facility as chaotic and dangerous. Jean's trust in the institution is increasingly tested.

On the one-year anniversary of the revolt, Murlloppe, the Marquis, and Dominik take Charlota for a ritual orgy, and she informs Jean that this is his only chance to free the staff. The conspirators still hold power within the asylum. The moment raises Jean's urgency to intervene.

Jean finds Charlota and the others tarred and feathered in the basement and frees them. The released men immediately attack and beat the other patients to shove them back into their cells. The basement scene signals a brutal collapse of order within the asylum.

Dr. Coulmiere thanks Jean for releasing the men and explains his philosophy: corporal punishment balances mind and body, while Murlloppe's idea of curing through freedom is absurd. The exchange anchors the film in a stark view of treatment. Jean's actions are interpreted as disobedience to a harsh medical doctrine.

Murlloppe, the Marquis, and Dominik are tracked down and subjected to severe punishments for their roles in the revolt. The authorities reassert control over the chaotic asylum. This punitive response reinforces Dr. Coulmiere's harsh treatment philosophy.

Charlota is rescued, and Jean hopes to leave with her and marry. Dr. Coulmiere refuses to permit departure until 8am, per protocol. The stubborn rule highlights the hospital's rigid control over its patients.

Jean searches for Charlota and finds her in Coulmiere's room preparing for a night of sexual pleasures, triggering a violent hallucination. Coulmiere orders the first round of corporal punishment: two orderlies stuff Jean into a straitjacket and carry him away. The denial of escape culminates in a brutal, destabilizing punishment.