The film is based on historian Rachel Maines' 1999 book The Technology of Orgasm, which claimed that manual genital massage of women had been a common medical remedy since antiquity.

Maines' central thesis has since been disputed by scholars; a 2010 rebuttal by Helen King and a 2018 paper by Hallie Lieberman and Eric Schatzberg argue there is only circumstantial evidence that any physicians or midwives practiced genital massage before the 20th century.

The real Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville filed the first patent for an electromechanical vibrator, nicknamed Granville's Hammer, around 1883, but he actually used it to treat muscular disorders rather than hysteria as depicted in the film.

Hysteria was an officially recognized medical diagnosis until the American Psychiatric Association discontinued the term in 1952.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 59% approval rating from 132 critics with an average score of 5.8/10, while Metacritic gives it a 53/100 based on 33 critics, indicating mixed reviews.

Released in a limited theatrical run that peaked at 218 screens, the film grossed $1.8 million in the United States and Canada and $13.5 million elsewhere, totaling $15.3 million worldwide.