There’s something initially intriguing in this gender-flipped take on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from the rebooted Hammer studio brand, starring Eddie Izzard as Dr Nina Jekyll. But 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 comedy in the central performance feels unsettled, undermining the film’s horror potential, which is in any case damaged by the over-egged musical score and misfiring jump non-scares. The legendary dual personae of the story are not interestingly differentiated, or really differentiated at all, both being very much Izzard.
