Eddie Izzard's Brave 'Doctor Jekyll' Adaptation Slashed by Critics Earns an 82% Audience Score

It’s been another incredible year for the horror genre. It has included a batch of original haunts, franchise returns, and spooky adaptations. In the latter category, Eddie Izzard’s Doctor Jekyll was released on VOD and in a limited capacity in theaters earlier last month. While the critics haven’t been friendly to this latest telling of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, the film has found some love with the average movie watcher.

The film was crushed by critics, currently holding a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now, it does have a smaller review pool due to it being a limited release. However, there was enough to put a stake in this classic monster tale. Peter Bradshaw of the Guardian didn’t mince words, saying, “It soon reveals itself as bafflingly laborious, leaden and self-conscious, with the star often going into the familiar quirky monologue-riffing style, which might be hilarious in Izzard’s standup comedy, but it’s weird in the wrong way here.”

The tone of the film seem to be its biggest issue in the mine of critics as Brian Viner of the Daily Mail said, “Izzard works hard enough but always seems to be play-acting, and even the fine actress Lindsay Duncan is more than a little hammy as a forbidding, Mrs Danvers-style estate manager.” However, not every critic review was inherently negative with Kim Newman of Empire Magazine stating, “Jekyll and Hyde is about id unleashed, as well as evil, and Doctor Jekyll could do with more primal rampage to go with its sense of creeping coercion. Nevertheless, Izzard is great value.”

Izzard’s performance was a consistent bit of praise, even in the rotten reviews. That being said, Doctor Jekyll can hold its head up high due to its very positive audience score of 82%. Horror has always been a contentious genre with critics. Some of its best films, like John Carpenter's Halloween and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, weren’t loved by many critics at first. However, its strong box office draw and audience approval made them get reevaluated later on in their lifespan. While Doctor Jekyll may not be on that level, it looks like it has found its devoted horror community on VOD.

What Is ‘Doctor Jekyll’ About?

Doctor Jekyll is a modern retelling of the classic 1886 novella by Louis Stevenson. Dr. Nina Jekyll (Izzard) has made the big time in the pharmaceutical industry. However, when a scandal knocks her down a peg, her seclusion starts getting the best of her. To fight her personal demons, she hires an ex-con (Scott Chambers) as an assistant, but Dr. Jekyll’s intentions may be something much more sinister. While there have been countless adaptations of this horror story over the last 100 years in the industry, director Joe Stephenson’s film has a lot more new ideas at play. Even if most critics say it suffers from an identity crisis, like Will Sayre of MovieWeb pointed out:

It's a nasty threat, but it also muddles the juicier themes at hand, such as how the drug industry really plays into the Jekyll & Hyde tropes and how Jekyll's public trans-ness (as revealed in the film's opening sequence) factors into the titular villain's duality as well.

That being said, other positive reviews include William Bibbiani of The Wrap, who said, “Part throwback, part update and a little bit creaky, it’s all-in-all an excellent showcase of Izzard’s wonderful talents.”

Where Can You Watch ‘Doctor Jekyll’?

Doctor Jekyll currently isn’t on streaming, but it’s available to rent on paid VOD services like Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home and Apple TV. The trailer can be viewed below.