The familiar tellings we have come to know as Jekyll and Hyde very rarely, if at all, do justice to the original story. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not a horror or monster story, but more of a psychological crime drama — a cautionary tale about the evil within each of us and what would happen if we confronted our own duality … the good and evil within.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is really just as much the story of Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer and good friend of Dr. Henry Jekyll. More importantly, Utterson is a Victorian Gentleman, who is guided by a chivalric-like code to remain loyal to his friends and maintain his status in society.

It is loyalty that drives Utterson to play detective in an effort to protect Jekyll from the malicious and scheming Mr. Hyde. Eventually, Utterson finds himself introduced to a world that he is neither ready to enter nor accept.

The story takes place in Victorian-era England, toward the end of the Industrial Revolution. Utterson, a lawyer, and true Victorian Gentleman, discovers that his long-time friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, has become involved with a mysterious and dangerous man named Edward Hyde. Jekyll is a tall, handsome man with a very high social status, which he is expected to maintain. Hyde is a complete opposite, short and vulgar, with an unidentifiable deformity.

Utterson knows that in Jekyll’s youth, he was a bit wild and may have a few skeletons hiding in his closet. Therefore, he suspects that Mr. Hyde must be blackmailing Jekyll as the result of some long-past wrong doing. Utterson worries deeply that if the secret were to come to surface, Jekyll’s reputation would be at stake.

However, there is much more at risk then Utterson realizes. Jekyll begins to grow sickly and becomes reclusive. Another friend, experiences an “unknown” shock at Jekyll’s hands, ultimately resulting in his death. And then there’s the murder …

Hyde becomes a criminal on the run with an unknown hold over Jekyll, who will apparently do just about anything to help Hyde. Utterson continues to delve deeper into the dark and dangerous world of Edward Hyde and comes to realize that his friend, Henry Jekyll, is hiding a deep and dark secret.

The truth reveals an abomination of science and nature. Utterson is given a final choice. He must choose his life as a lawyer and the laws of England, or he will choose the life of a friend and Victorian gentleman, willing to sacrifice anything to save his friend’s reputation.