As Bizarrechats readers may have inferred, I've gotten on a Steve Lawson kick, having since discovered the writer/director's Bram Stoker's Van Helsing and Wrath of Dracula. I've now come upon his Jekyll and Hyde, a 2021 High Fliers Films/Creative Films submission, which presents Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novella from a different, cinematic vantage.
In this case, Lawson's retelling is filtered through Tom (Bram Stoker's Van Helsing) Hendryk's Gabriel Utterson (based on a character who carries much of Stevenson's narrative), as he reconsiders his relationship with Henry Jekyll, while defending the doctor's magnanimous reputation.
Jekyll is, in fact, played faithful to the novella, with the doctor being more seasoned (rather like Boris Karloff in Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde), with both personalities enacted by Michael McKell. However, for a stretch of the retelling, Jekyll and Hyde drop from view, with Jekyll perishing due to an apparent suicide, but in the end, their combined presence can't be denied, thanks to McKell's supreme, nuanced division, even if it takes Utterson's amateur, investigative skills a hardy (yet engaging) spell to get there.
Mark (Bram Stoker's Van Helsing/Wrath of Dracula) Topping's Inspector Newcombe joins Utterson in his quest. As portrayed by the ever adept Topping, Newcome is sometimes wary of Utterson, but entertains the man's quest, if only to get to the bottom of Edward Hyde's Ripper-ized victims. (As a counterpart to Newcome's by-the-book decisiveness, David Lenik's Endfield adds crass levity as an unscrupulous version of Stevenson's side character. Helen Crevel's Sarah Utterson and Francesca Louise White's streetwalker, Penny Keaton, are most effective in their supporting roles, as well.)
Though Lawson's venture starts as a mystery yarn (which Stevenson's fable is at heart), the second half adapts a Thomas Harris strand, which opens itself to elements of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige, but even with such said, this Jekyll and Hyde is its own affectionate thing. (It's a subtle reinvention of material, and therefore, a worthy path to reanalyze literary friends. Heck, even the late, great Ray Bradbury used this approach when revisiting his beloved characters.)
For anyone who appreciate Stevenson's story and the many adaptations that have followed it, Lawson's Jekyll and Hyde is essential viewing. Because of its first-rate performances (and I might add, Hendryk's lead pulls it all together: a terrific characterization from start to finish), this will also be one worth revisiting. To say the least, I liked this redux very much, and I'm confident that those of my ilk will, too.
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