Fortunately, The Essex Serpent delivers in just about every facet. From performances by Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes that are infused with a delicious note of inward yearning that slowly displays itself on the outside to the fog-blanketed marshes of the Essex village in which the bulk of the story is set, the resulting product is an atmospheric, Gothic romance that doesn't retreat from indulging in its overall foreboding while it ultimately looks toward the possibility of an optimistic ending.

It works beautifully as a drama about complicated characters tangled in relationships unable to be contained by the conventional boundaries of romance or friendship, and about the ways humans will try to impose order or sense where none can be found.

Gorgeously shot, cleverly crafted, and brimming with intrigue, Clio Barnard’s latest reaffirms her status as one of Britain’s most important directors.

Overripe at times, it leaves room for enough mystery and respect for the unknown to keep mind and soul working in tandem toward a heady exploration of faith and doubt. Claire Danes is radiant as Cora Seaborne.

“The Essex Serpent” tells a story where faith rarely manifests in ways other than preachers shouting about sin and love is rarely felt without being laid bare in plain terms. Regardless of what it is that Cora is destined to find out in the water, it’s hard not to want a little more from this show than what’s floating on the surface.

Danes grounds and gives a remarkable truth to the whole. But even allowing for the fact that screen adaptations rarely capture the full filigree of a literary novelist’s work (one reason why uncomplicated genre fiction generally fares better – there is more to add, less to lose), it feels like slightly too much has been lost in translation here.

Director Clio Barnard (The Selfish Giant) has always been stronger on atmosphere than plot. She and writer, Anna Symon, have produced something flat, in which moments of high drama or strong emotion seem overdone.