Daisy Ridley is the title character in this retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet, told from Ophelia's perspective. Co-stars Naomi Watts as Gertrude.
"Something is rotten in medieval-era Denmark, where political intrigue swirls around the imperial court like dark magic. Amid it all, the queen’s brightest lady-in-waiting, Ophelia, finds herself drawn to Hamlet, the charismatic and elusive crown prince. As their secretive love affair takes flight, betrayal strikes the court, threatening to derail their union and devastate the royal family for good. Caught between her desires and her loyalty, Ophelia has to decide where her devotion will ultimately lie." (Sundance Film Festival)
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Daisy Ridley is the title character in Ophelia, a retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet told from her perspective. Co-starring Naomi Watts as Gertrude, Flicks editor Steve Newall found it refreshing to learn that the male-centric story we thought we knew may not be accurate after all.
Full reviewThe notion of a fresh take on Shakespeare may conjure up visions of films like Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, but rather than stuff Hamlet full of Hawaiian shirts, fringes and songs by The Cardigans et al, Ophelia’s twist is to place the titular female character at the centre of the story. It’s a simple idea, and while it is also one that’s been done before (perhaps most notably by New Zealand playwright Jean Betts in Ophelia Thinks Harder), it’s still interesting to see the perspective shift while setting, costume and cadence remain familiar.
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This is the ultimate female take-back-the-narrative movie, and frankly a lot of it is silly and sophomoric. But it's also juicy and fun...
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That sound you hear is cordial applause, and the riffling of an audience paging through their high-school-English-class paperbacks to double-check the facts.
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Unfortunately, Ophilia fails to satisfy either curiosity, nether fleshing out the title character's backstory nor providing [Daisy] Ridley with a worthy vehicle for her talents.
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This film looks absolutely gorgeous, but apart from its production design it is basically a disaster.
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It's just unfortunate that, despite a clever conceit, they can't deliver something truly compelling or, occasionally, even coherent.
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This may be all well-and-good for a teenage fantasy, but devotees of Shakespeare's Ophelia should hope for a more distinguished retelling someday.
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While gorgeous to look at, Ophelia may have been better realised as an HBO television series.
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This vigorous, colourful and clever melodrama smartly rethinks both the play and the character, making her a far more proactive figure than Shakespeare did in addition to entirely re-imagining her fate.
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Ophelia is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and Prime Video Store.
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