Schocktober 2021 #28

Watched on Magenta TV

Billy Nighy has already made dozens of films in his career spanning over 40 years. Not to mention the many series. Sometimes he is an ageing rock star, sometimes a tentacled pirate and then again a wonderfully conceited acting snob, but as different as the roles are: he is always a real scene-stealer. In 2016, he was convincing in front of a historical backdrop as a sober policeman who has to face a real nightmare.

The "star" of the film here, however, is first and foremost the setting: In his second feature film, Spanish director Juan Carlos Medina resurrects an oft-troubled but always welcome London. A London full of dark alleys and dark secrets, through which thick fog wafts and every step can be your last. Jack the Ripper does not appear in this adaptation of Peter Ackroyd's novel, but his soulmate, the titular "Limehouse Golem", is no less brutal.

There are also a few scary parts here. There are the scenes in which Kildare and his young colleague George Flood (Daniel Mays) creep through dangerous backyards, always looking for the next clue. But above all there are the moments in which past crimes are reconstructed. Narrated by distorted voices, framed by surreal nightmares, Medina reminds us that for a time Spain was a very fertile source of horror.

And yet "The Limehouse Golem" is somewhat different from what one might expect. The murder scenes themselves are not shown, only introduced. The shock moments are thus softened, the crimes seem distant. Often they are not even the decisive thing in the film: again and again the investigation falls behind as we return with Elizabeth to her past and at the same time we get to know the world of the stages.

This is magnificently portrayed, bursting with life and detail, just as everything in the film looks very good. In addition, the passages benefit greatly from the playful actors, including Eddie Marsan as a shady club owner or the devious acrobat Aveline Ortega (María Valverde) as well as Olivia Cooke, known from numerous genre films . As splendid as these performances are, as dense the atmosphere out there on the streets - "The Limehouse Golem" is not convincing all round.

The ambitious narrative structure, which constantly jumps back and forth between time, between backward-looking report, direct experience and illusion, is certainly challenging, but cannot quite make up for the weaknesses in the story. The individual investigative steps are often arbitrary, sometimes too short, at other points too leisurely. Crime fiction fans are rewarded with one or two twists and turns, but a real development looks different, the case never really gets going. If you're more interested in the trappings than in solving the puzzle, you can still get involved with this film and let yourself be infected by a mood that fluctuates between exhilarated and colourful and threatening and morbid. In a film landscape fixated on speed, it is also pleasantly old-fashioned.