★★★★ out of ★★★★★
The Essex Serpent is a cryptid tale that explores a time and place at a time of great crossroads in society and in the lives of all the characters involved in the tale. It is a parable of faith, science, and the collision of the advances in society running headlong into long-held folkloric superstitions. Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston headline an impressive cast, in a period piece production that finds beauty in all the bleakness in Essex marshes.