The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher is based on Kate Summerscale's book of the same name. This book is not a novel: rather it is a factual (and, if truth be told, rather dry) recounting of the facts of the case and everything relating to it (including the individuals involved) based on the original documentary evidence.
The film concentrates on the case and doesn't tell us very much about the backgrounds of Mr Whicher, the Kent family, detection within the English police force and how it was viewed by the public, and so on. As such it, too, is a little dry, although the drama inherent in the story is augmented by performance drama.
The film may disappoint because the conclusion is somewhat perfunctory and the "what happened afterwards", delivered at length on the course of a couple of lengthy chapters in the book, is here given over the space of three or four title cards.
The film concentrates on the case and doesn't tell us very much about the backgrounds of Mr Whicher, the Kent family, detection within the English police force and how it was viewed by the public, and so on. As such it, too, is a little dry, although the drama inherent in the story is augmented by performance drama.
The film may disappoint because the conclusion is somewhat perfunctory and the "what happened afterwards", delivered at length on the course of a couple of lengthy chapters in the book, is here given over the space of three or four title cards.