Line #26 Film/TheLimehouseGolem


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/220px_limehouse_golem_poster.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:220:Before the Ripper, fear had another name.]]
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4	''The Limehouse Golem'' is a 2016 {{British\|Films}} HistoricalDetectiveFiction film starring Creator/BillNighy. It is a [[TheFilmOfTheBook film adaptation]] to the 1994 novel ''Dan Leno & the Limehouse Golem'' by Peter Ackroyd.
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6	It's 1880, and a plague of mysterious murders has gripped London in fear. The crimes are noted for their brutality and seeming randomness. Due to certain {{calling card}}s, the killer has been dubbed the Limehouse Golem. It's up to a Scotland Yard detective to stop the madness.
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8	!!This film contains examples of:
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10	* AbusiveParents: Lizzie's mother was so abusive that her response to her daughter being raped is to ''burn her genitals with a hot poker.''
11	* AcquittedTooLate: [[spoiler: Played with. It is 'revealed' John Cree is the Golem, which would have spared Lizzie hanging for his murder....except he wasn't. Lizzie is, and she wanted it to be revealed so she could achieve the fame she hungered for.]]
12	* AdaptationalAlternateEnding: A slight one. [[spoiler:The movie has John Cree to be 'revealed' as the Limehouse Golem, while in the book, as far as the public knows, the murders of the Limehouse Golem remain unsolved.]]
13	* AntagonistTitle
14	* BeneathSuspicion: [[spoiler:Kildair spends the film investigating the only four men who visited the library containing the Limehouse Golem's hidden journal in the right timeframe to record its last entry. None of them are guilty. While only those four ''men'' visited the library that day, the librarian never thinks to mention Lizzie and several other ''women'' who visited the library.]]
15	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Lizzie Cree]] is the killer.
16	* BittersweetEnding: The Golem's rampage is stopped, and [[spoiler:Lizzie hangs for her crimes without achieving the fame she craved.]] However, the Golem manages a last post-mortem 'fuck you' to a rival that results in her death and Kildare is so traumatized he retires.
17	* BondageIsBad: The only character who expresses interest in BDSM is a sleazy theatre troupe boss who threatens to fire women if they don't beat him.
18	* CharacterCatchphrase: The line "Here we are again!" is found written in the Golem's diary. As it is also Dan Leno's catchphrase, this throws suspicion on him, although as Kildaire notes, everyone in London seems to be familiar with Leno's act.
19	* CriminalMindGames: The Golem likes to taunt the police with messages in Latin claiming the public are just as guilty as the murderer for being fascinated by the murders.
20	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: The misogyny of Victorian England is laid bare in this film.
21	* DepravedDwarf: Little Victor, a fellow member of Lizzie's acting troupe, is a giant pervert who sexually harasses all the female performers.
22	* DisposableSexWorker: The Golem's initial victims are prostitutes, which results in the murders being taken perhaps less seriously than they should until the killer graduates.
23	* DisproportionateRetribution: The Golem tends to answer any slight with violent murder.
24	* DomesticAbuse: John Cree seems like a great person, but he's known to be a white knight only concerned with his reputation, and [[spoiler:is an emotionally abusive rapist in his private life. Maybe. See UnreliableNarrator below]].
25	* TheDulcineaEffect: The likes of John Cree and Inspector Killdare feel this towards Lizzie, as {{lampshaded}} by Lizzie herself.
26	--> '''Lizzie''': ''I seem to ignite the [protective] urge in men.''
27	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Say what you will about the Golem, [[spoiler:she]] faces death without showing fear.
28	* FameThroughInfamy: The Golem's murders are motivated by a desire for fame. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, as Inspector Killdare destroys her confession and leaves her to hang for supposedly killing the real Golem, where she wanted a reputation that would stand on its own]].
29	* {{Foreshadowing}}: During her trial, Lizzie tells Killdare that she wants to stand on her own without her name being tied to her husband. [[spoiler:When Killdare realises that she is the Golem, he deliberately delays revealing anything to his superiors, allowing her to die while the public believe that she just killed the real Golem, giving her fame that is only relevant because of John Cree rather than because she is famous on her own]].
30	* FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Subverted. Lizzie Cree was raped as a child, physically abused by her mother when she found out, had her acting career ruined by malicious coworkers, was sexually harassed by her boss and got married to an emotionally abusive rapist. However, none of this had anything to do with her killings, which were motivated entirely by a desire for fame, and her UnreliableNarrator status means that some of these might have been exaggerated]].
31	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Creator/KarlMarx is considered as a suspect in the killings, but quickly exonerated. George Gissing and Dan Leno were also real life people.
32	* HollywoodLaw: Lizzie is sentenced to hang the every next day after she's convicted, necessitating that Kildare race to get her pardoned. However, hangings could not be carried out until three weeks had passed, giving the defendant time to appeal (although this rarely worked).
33	* KarmaHoudini: The dockworker who rapes Lizzie as a child gets away scot free and is never seen again after his scene.
34	* PredecessorVillain: As the film is set before even UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper, the only knowledge our heroes have about {{serial killer}}s is based on John Williams, the RealLife committer of the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratcliff_Highway_murders Ratcliff Highway murders]] from sixty years before. The Golem also cites Williams as an inspiration.
35	* PromotedToScapegoat: The gay Inspector Kildare is made lead detective in the investigation by his homophobic superior so that he'll take the blame for failing to catch the serial killer rather than the Yard's "golden boy". [[ReassignmentBackfire Instead, he manages to close the case]].
36	* SlasherSmile: The Golem wears one when cornering a woman and her child, adding "Here we are again!" for good measure.
37	* TheSociopath: [[spoiler:Lizzie Cree, who murders various prostitutes and frames her husband so she can be exposed and receive FameThroughInfamy]].
38	* SweetPollyOliver: Lizzie often goes out dressed as a man to enjoy freedom that a Victorian woman lacks. She's used to this, having worked as a drag king while at the dance hall. [[spoiler:She also commits some murders this way]].
39	* UnreliableNarrator: With the reveal that [[spoiler: Lizzie is the Golem, her letters and recollections are thrown greatly in doubt]].
40	* WouldHurtAChild: The Golem happily butchers children.

Context Film / TheLimehouseGolem