''Doctor Jekyll'' is a 2023 British

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

horror film directed by

Joe Stephenson Joseph Chester Stephenson (June 30, 1921 – September 20, 2001) was a catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Giants (1943), Chicago Cubs (1944) and Chicago White Sox (1947). Following his retirement as a player, Stephenso ...

, written by Dan Kelly-Mulhern, and starring

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

as the title character. It is an adaptation of the novella '' Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

. The film had its world premiere at FrightFest on 25 August 2023 and was released in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2023.

Premise

Cast

as Dr. Nina Jekyll / Rachel Hyde *

Scott Chambers Scott Chambers (also known as Scott Jeffrey) is a British actor and film producer. He played Richard in the 2015 film ''Chicken''. He also portrayed Christopher Robin in the 2024 film '' Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2'', replacing Nikolai Le ...

as Rob *

Lindsay Duncan Lindsay Vere Duncan (born 7 November 1950) is a Scottish actress. On stage, she has won two Olivier Awards (for ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' and ''Private Lives'') and a Tony Award (for ''Private Lives''). She has starred in several plays by H ...

as Sandra Poole * Robyn Cara as Maeve *

Jonathan Hyde Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan "Nash" Hyde, is an Australian-English actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the 1994 comedy film '' Richie Rich'', Sa ...

Henry Jekyll Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. In the story, ...

Morgan Watkins Morgan Watkins is a British film, television and stage actor from Camden, London. Background Watkins trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2009. He lives in London with his girlfriend and baby son. Career Watkins played No ...

as Ewan *

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View (1985 ...

as Journalist *

Tony Jayawardena Anthony Surath Jayawardena is a British actor, known for his roles as Mr Bhamra in the West End musical '' Bend It Like Beckham the Musical'' and for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe and Royal National Theatre. I ...

as Malcolm * Isabella Inchbald as Nina's Mother

Production

The project was announced in February 2022, with

and Scott Chambers revealed to be starring, with

attached as director, and Dan Kelly-Mulhern making his screenwriting debut. Stephenson, Guy de Beaujeu, Liam Coutts and Christian Angermayer were unveiled as producers, along with B Good Picture Company and Fluidity Films as the production companies. In March,

and

were revealed to have joined the cast, alongside more of the supporting cast.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

also concluded that month.

Release

In March 2022,

Hammer Studios Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic fiction, Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of thes ...

acquired UK distribution rights. ''Doctor Jekyll'' had its worldwide premiere at FrightFest on 25 August 2023. It was released in the United Kingdom on 27 October 2023. The film will be released on August 2, 2024 in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

Reception

The film proved divisive on its initial release in UK cinemas. ''

Little White Lies (magazine) ''Little White Lies'' is a British, internationally distributed, movie magazine and website. It is published by London-based media company TCOLondon, who also publish the DIY culture magazine '' Huck''. History and content ''Little White Lies'' ...

'' gave the film 4 *'s for enjoyment and wrote, "the sort of horror that has you laughing one minute and throwing your popcorn in the air in fright the next. Izzard also subverts the fear of gender that has long haunted horror cinema by both playing to and away from the ongoing ‘trans scare’. It looks like Hammer has returned from the dead" HeyUGuys, wrote "Stephenson is a great upcoming director who has created a bloody good campy romp here... Doctor Jekyll is a rollicking brilliant time" while '' Metro (British Newspaper)'' wrote that the film "may become stuff of cult movie legend". However, Todd Gilchrist of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, " Though Stephenson offers plenty of suitably spooky imagery, and importantly finds a more-than-game collaborator in Izzard as both the good and evil doctor, ''Doctor Jekyll'' is meandering and empty, an update with neither enough loyalty to its source material or imagination to make its departures meaningful".

References

External links

* * {{Hammer Horror Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde films British science fiction horror films 2020s English-language films Gothic horror films Hammer Film Productions horror films English-language horror films Films set in country houses