I, Claudius: A messy, fascinating look at Roman rot

Is it worth your time?

If you like your history served with a side of intense, sweaty paranoia, then yes. This is for the patient viewer who doesn't mind feeling a bit claustrophobic. If you’re looking for a breezy period drama with clean lines and heroic speeches, you will absolutely hate it. It’s dense, it’s loud, and it feels like a fever dream that just won’t quit. 🏛️

Charles Laughton is the whole show here. He plays Claudius with this weird, twitchy energy that makes you want to look away but you can't. He’s supposed to be the fool, right? But he’s the only one actually paying attention to the bodies hitting the floor. There’s a specific scene where he’s just kind of lurking in the background of a banquet, and the way he hides his fear behind that blank stare is just... unsettling.

The production design feels like it was put together with bits of string and pure anxiety. Sometimes the sets look so flimsy you expect someone to trip and knock down an entire pillar. It gives the whole thing this bizarre, stagey feel that shouldn't work, but it adds to the sense that everyone is trapped. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Picture Snatcher, though obviously in a completely different century.

The dialogue is thick. You have to really listen, or you'll lose the plot in about thirty seconds flat. People are constantly plotting in whispers, and then suddenly someone is screaming about betrayal and the screen is just filled with people shouting. It’s exhausting. It feels less like a historical epic and more like a family dinner where everyone has a knife tucked under the tablecloth.

Small things that stuck

• The lighting is surprisingly harsh, which makes everyone look like they haven't slept in a week.
• There's a moment where a crown is passed around that looks like it weighs about fifty pounds. The actor struggles with it for a second too long.
• The background extras in the senate scenes look like they’re just waiting for lunch. It’s charmingly low-budget.

I found myself thinking about The Rising Generation while watching the younger royals scheme. The lack of stakes in that movie is the total opposite of this. Here, one wrong look and you’re basically signing your own death warrant. It makes the pettiness of the characters feel dangerous instead of just annoying.

Is it a perfect film? No. It’s barely a coherent one. It stumbles over its own weight quite a bit. There are stretches where the momentum just dies, and you’re left watching people walk down hallways for what feels like an eternity. But when it clicks, it’s like watching a train derail in slow motion. You know exactly what’s going to happen, yet you can’t look away. 🍷