Nia DaCosta Bold Reinvention of "Hedda" is a winner

Hollywood often feels the need to “fix” movies that are already classics, believing they should be reinterpreted for modern viewers. Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda” offers a bold, transformative take on Henrik Ibsen’s *Hedda Gabler*, a play celebrated for over 120 years.

Rather than merely remaking the original, DaCosta aims to reclaim and reinvent it, delivering a fresh, vibrant interpretation with a diverse cast. DaCosta’s film is not just a translation of the stage play; it aims to create something fresh, bold, and vibrant. With vivid colors and raw emotional honesty, it breaks free from traditional constraints.

Tessa Thompson, who also produced the film, stars as Hedda in a portrayal unlike any other. She is part aristocrat, part monster, exuding pure power as she commands each scene. Her eyes reflect a fierce hunger, and her intense glare shows a woman determined to reclaim control in a dismissive world. Thompson doesn’t just play Hedda—she becomes her.

The cast around her is nothing short of a dream. The formidable Vicky Krieps is Eileen, the academic counterpoint to Hedda’s bluster, a woman so quietly put together that she points up all of Hedda’s insecurities. Josh O’Connor is Hedda’s hapless, almost mousy husband, forever mistaking physical proximity for emotional intimacy. 

In one of the best (and briefest) performances of the year, John Boyega plays a slimy would-be lover who flirts, fawns, and almost steals the entire movie. Dialogue is crisp and clever, every shot perfectly lit and composed in an interesting mix of the vaporous and confrontational.

In fact, Hedda is full of contradictions. It is lush, yet claustrophobic, ornate in some ways but refreshingly modern in its spirit. DaCosta’s camera is the proverbial fly on the wall, peering into the lives of these women as if they were ancient artifacts and dangerous, futuristic weapons at once. 

This will undoubtedly make some purists uncomfortable, as this Hedda is not dainty but loud, her humor pitch black, her voice so free to articulate the subtext that Ibsen could only ever hint at. That is the point. “Hedda” is not simply a revival. It is a resurrection. 

DaCosta has taken something that was not broken and made it new again by breaking it apart, making it even more beautiful, turning a tragedy into a triumph, and letting Tessa Thompson, this fire-eyed anti-heroine, shine more brilliantly than ever before. I wonder if Ibsen himself is watching. I want to think he is somewhere between applause and a standing ovation.

Final Grade: B+

“Hedda" arrives on Prime Video Wednesday, October 29