'Exhilarating' period drama adaptation with 'unforgettable' acting is a must-watch
The lavish piece is adapted from a beloved stage play
Audiences and critics alike have been pouring praise on a brand-new period drama worth watching after others have enjoyed a "masterful" series and others have watched a 10/10 Netflix drama.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 7 and will be hitting screens next month including on Amazon Prime Video.
On IMDb, one person described the film as “an exhilarating ride”, while the aesthetics were hailed as “sumptuous and riotous”.
The user went on to say: “There is so much going on in every scene. The pacing varies from breakneck to brief respites of calm.”
They added: “I'll be thinking about this film long after I finished seeing it. You can't ask more of any film.”
A 10/10 review on the platform was titled: “A Wild Party Worth The Ride” and the audience member said: “The stakes are delightfully high in this classic tale of jealousy.”
The actors were praised as “fire on all cylinders” with an “unforgettable” lead performance. The user concluded: “This adaptation slaps!”
Meanwhile, on Rotten Tomatoes, one critic from IndieWire said of the film: “Words like “bold” and “daring” and “wild” will be thrown around in regards to Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” one of the more original and thrilling adaptations of a classic work in recent memory.”
A review from Autostraddle explained: “The film has all the discordance of a theatrical revival that stretches the edges of its famous text. DaCosta wisely leans into these imperfections.”
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Hedda is a fresh take on Henrik Ibsen's 1890 play Hedda Gabler, but it is only loosely based on the story, which is often described as a female version of Hamlet.
Top Boy, Candyman and The Marvels director Nia DaCosta wrote and helmed Hedda.
The story is transported from 19th-century Norway to an English villa in the 1950s and follows the title character (played by Tessa Thompson) as she and her husband George Tesman (Tom Bateman) host a lavish party.
Hedda will be trying to secure her husband’s future and maintain her social standing, however, a spanner is thrown in the works by the arrival of her former flame Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss).
Hedda also stars Outer Range’s Imogen Poots, Fortitude and This Town star Nicholas Pinnock, Suffragette actor Finbar Lynch, Mirren Mack from Miss Austen, and Top Boy’s Saffron Hocking, among others.
Following its premiere at TIFF, Hedda will be released in select cinemas in the USA on October 22, before coming to Prime Video on October 29.
The film has been billed as a “provocative, modern reimagining” of Ibsen’s play by the streaming platform.
Hedda is “torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life”.
The summary goes on to state: “Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.”
Hedda will be released in cinemas from October 22 and will be released on Prime Video on October 29