The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Claude Rains is genuinely unsettling

Is it worth your time?

Look, if you like black-and-white gothic vibes, pull up a chair. Claude Rains basically eats the scenery, which is exactly what you want from him. If you aren't into 1930s dialogue that moves at the speed of a snail, skip this one. It's a slow burn that doesn't actually finish burning because, well, Dickens died before he could tell us who the killer was. This movie takes a swing at the ending, and it's… a choice.

Claude Rains as John Jasper is the whole reason to watch. He’s got this weird, twitchy energy. You can see him trying to keep his composure while the opium clouds are clearly doing a number on his brain. There’s a scene early on where he’s just staring at Rosa, and it’s genuinely uncomfortable. Not 'movie villain' uncomfortable, but 'this guy needs a therapist' uncomfortable.

The sets are all fog and stone arches. It feels like someone dropped a budget onto a bunch of soundstages and told them to make it look like England was made entirely of shadows. Sometimes the fog is so thick it feels like it’s going to leak out of your screen. It’s a bit much, honestly.

The pacing is… well, it’s a 1935 movie. It doesn't care about your attention span. It takes forever to get to the point, and then the point sort of meanders off into the bushes. If you’ve seen The Reign of Terror, you know how these historical dramas like to hold onto a shot for an extra five seconds just to let the gravitas sink in. Sometimes it works. Sometimes I found myself checking my phone.

Random thoughts from the back row:

• The choir scenes are weirdly loud. Like, uncomfortably loud.
• I’m still not sure if Walter Brennan is actually acting or just vibing in the background.
• The ending feels like a massive shrug. It’s like the writers were just guessing at the last chapter.
• There is a distinct lack of actual mystery-solving. It’s mostly just watching guys look suspicious.

It’s not as snappy as Naughty But Nice, obviously. It’s a completely different gear. You don't watch this to have a good time; you watch it to see Rains be a total creep. And in that regard, it absolutely delivers. It feels like a stage play that someone accidentally filmed. Everything is just a little too deliberate, a little too heavy. But for a Sunday afternoon when it’s raining outside? It hits the spot.