I thought it was quite good, and surprisingly so. I also thought the inclusion of Edgar Allen Poe added quite a lot to the storytelling. He's a known character drawn to death/dark things. It all seemed to fit quite nicely and gave the film a much more intellectual bent. For instance, when Poe was so clever, only to realize that Landor was ahead of him. Poe's presence and intellect bolster the main character's without having to add a lot of dialog/screen time to do so. Poe also served as quite a good red-herring for the final reveal.

That said, I definitely agree that I'm surprised at the quality of the product given that Netflix is involved. Hopefully a sign of more things to come. I'm not anti-Netflix, I'm anti-crappy-quality-art. This one was pretty good!

@aholejones said:

... seems to lose pace rather quickly and a lot of the scenes with Poe just seem to drag on and seem like largely pointless filler.

It was a different time. A much slower, more literate time. Language — especially in the world of a poet — and etiquette, and formality, are hallmarks of that bygone age. Taking time to immerse oneself in the pace of the time, the meandering nature of social interactions, and thought processes, is a part of a movie like this...I think.

Not sure why they needed to cram Edgar Allan Poe in the movie in the first place

In real life, the final days and death of Poe remain a mystery to this day. How he ended up semi-conscious, babbling incoherently, mentioning names that have eluded explanation ever since, is inviting ground for speculation and coming up with plausible stories that could have brought him to that sad demise.

since they could've replaced his character with any random person.

Ah, but Poe provides a focal point, an intriguing edge to the time and place, because he's at once both famous, and mysterious. Poe adds an intriguing layer that would not have been available with any random person.

Speaking of pointless characters what is Gillian Anderson doing in this movie.

I'd say she was having fun! And working! As has been discussed in other threads, actors don't have the luxury of a 9-5 schedule. They never know if/when they'll work again. They read scripts, don't like some, like some, and their audition to casting ratio is not 1:1. Getting to work with new actors and directors on an interesting project is embraced, which is why we all have seen our favourite actors in movies and thought "why'd they even bother with this?" I like Robert De Niro, but have no intention of watching him in Dirty Grandpa. That said, he did appear to have fun with The Intern. Either way, both movies are a far cry from Casino and The Irishman but again, they've all got to work.