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Percy and Mary Shelley set off to the continent with Mary's stepsister, Claire. They meet and keep company with Lord Byron and his sycophantic doctor,Polidori. If you're either a Shelley or a Byron fan, many of the details of their lives are known to you, but I loved this film, its emphasis on Shelley's purity, its willingness to encompass the complexity and totality of those amazing times and the equally amazing people who gave us poetry, passion, courage and a desire to live life to the fullest. It is a lovely, lovely film.

The three main characters don't develop over time. Dakota Fanning is a committed feminist, the lead character is a deeply educated alienist and the newspaper man is a good guy. The don't INTERact, they just act. No inner conflict, no self doubt. The show is driven by plot rather than character. When compared to Perry Mason where the characters' strengths and weaknesses determine their actions, The Alienist does just the opposite. There's no clock ticking, no urgency. And too much animal cruelty for me.