Limehouse is one of the poorest and roughest areas of Victorian London where every kind of crime, degradation and vice is rampant, and now it is targeted by a brutal serial killer, the so-called "Limehouse Golem" which strikes seemingly at random, targeting the young, the old, men and women. World weary Police Inspector John Kildare (Bill Nighy), who has been passed over for promotion due to rumours about his private life, is put in charge of the case and during the investigation finds himself drawn to troubled music hall actress Elizabeth Cree (Olivia Cooke), who is on trial for the poisoning of her husband, one of several suspects in the Golem case.
Based on the novel Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem by Peter Ackroyd, this is a lurid, full-blooded Victorian melodrama, rich with atmosphere and period detail. It's full of gore and horror, but also works as an intriguing mystery. The film uses historical figures as characters, such as Karl Marx (Henry Goodman), novelist George Gissing (Morgan Watkins) and comedian Dan Leno (Douglas Booth). Bill Nighy is great as the sensitive, troubled police inspector and the connection he forms with Elizabeth is genuinely touching. The film explores themes of social inequality and the pursuit of fame.
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