#john cree

Hey there Tumblr, its been a while! It has also been a while since I went to see this film so the scenes are a little faded but my love and admiration for this film has settled.

I am not the type of person to watch a murder mystery at the cinema. I love nothing more than sitting at home and watching one on telly at my leisure one autumnal afternoon. However I saw the trailer during one of my frequent visits to Cineworld and decided right there and then that I would see The Limehouse Golum on the big screen. And do I regret that? No. I. Do. Not. 

I did not expect all the clever little twists and turns during that narrative, which was obviously the point, but my god they managed to fit so much information in and still sway your judgement without making it messy or complicated. I accused many a suspect during this film and I found myself once again pointing a finger at my original suspect Dan Leno. I’m pretty sure that I haven’t personally seen Douglas Booth in anything since he played Pip in Great Expectations back in 2011 and I enjoyed his performance back then too just as much, if not more in this film. 

So the story follows Inspector Kildare trying to crack two murder mysteries. Initially he is assigned the case of the Limehouse murders, but then finds himself trying to prove the innocence of Elizabeth Cree who was accused of poisoning her husband John, a suspect in Kildare’s original case. There are so many things I want to explore and mention about this film but I can’t bring myself to spoil the thrill of this masterpiece. 

What I will say is that the overall mystery was so successfully achieved. They had me guessing (wrongly) who the murderer could be the whole time until I finally thought I had cracked it. Then another twist and we found ourselves at the reveal, and seconds before the character confessed it clicked.

What I liked apart from the fact that I, a self confessed murder mystery genius, could not figure out the killer, was that the whole establishing a suspect was performed so cleverly. Each sinister suspect narrated an extract of the Golum’s diary, then we watched them act out the extract, allowing us to match them to the crime or discard the suspect completely. It was such a different approach to forming a suspect which was why those scenes engrossed me so.

Another thing I enjoyed was the ending, although at first I didn’t understand Kildare’s decision to keep the true murderers identity a secret, I then found a perverted form of justice in it. He prevented the murderers final intentions, in more way than one. However this then formed a moral injustice as a victim was then remembered a murderer, leaving the murderer as a consequential victim. This formed a conflict within me that I enjoyed, but it haunts me, however I do like that it adds to Kildare’s character, such a moral man making such a hard decision made it far more real for me.

When mentioning justice, something else in the film tickled me in a twisted way. The death of Aveline Ortega, I felt it was truly deserved, and in a way she was partially responsible for the Golum. I liked that she met the exact same fate as Elizabeth, almost an equal death for a woman she always tried to out do. What really got me was how at her time of death she was impersonating Elizabeth, which I felt was almost a win for the woman beyond the grave. The death of her rival in the way she wanted. This win was short lived as I then realised that in a way Elizabeth got the death she wanted, even if it wasn’t truly her, but at the same time Aveline again won in a twisted reveal of fate, her death got the audience Elizabeth craved, once again Aveline got what Elizabeth strode for. That was left playing on my mind way after the film had ended.

I feel like there are so many meaningful routes I could explore when talking about this film, and I have never been left so conflicted about the ending of a murder mystery and that is the truly horrifying thing in this horror-mystery. The sole reason I have tried to refrain from detail is that I just can’t bare to spoil it, once I buy it on DVD I will 100% do a follow up post on either here or instagram exploring the finer details in depth. Even though the film has been out in cinemas a while I still think more people need to see it and until that chance has snuffed it then I shall keep my major spoilers to myself. 

Anyway.. The Limehouse Golum has changed me, although the MM genre is still one I prefer on the little screen I will definitely be viewing those that appeal to me at the cinema, in fact I’m looking forward to November as that brings the release of Murder on the Orient Express! (Also I’m a sucker for Johnny Depp and Judi Dench...) 

First of all, I am terribly sorry how answering this took me forever. I'm like 80% through the movie rn and John Cree is not exactly sparking blorbo thoughts for me, I fear 😭

I mean...sorry, but the costume department kinda flopped here. And I sure can excuse the murder but not the way he treated Lizzy.

Would I still? Probably.