Hedda

 

Nia DaCosta's latest film is a bold reimagining of Henrik Ibsen's 1890 play Hedda Gabler. After directing The Marvels, DaCosta has made a complete 180 and I'm here for it. Set in 1950s England, the film follows Hedda, played by Tessa Thompson, a woman caught between the ghost of a past love and the slow suffocation of her current life.

The costumes were stunning, they felt authentically 1950s but somehow contemporary at the same time. The film had a "gilded cage" vibe that reminded me of the films Passing and The Great Gatsby. Underneath all the glitz and glamour of lavish parties in grand estates, lied a tension that was bubbling up. DaCosta used this luxurious world to dig into themes of racial identity, queer desire, and what it meant to be trapped by wealth and societal expectations. She tackled big questions about how you live your life authentically in these settings where you feel you have no real control or freedom.

I appreciated the diverse casting and strong character development. The chemistry between Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss was magnetic and their scenes had an intensity that kept me glued to the screen. Thompson's performance was worthy of the Golden Globe nomination that she received. She became a woman who was drowning in desperation and mental anguish, someone who had to manipulate everyone around her just to feel like she had any control over her own life.

In the end, you are left with some uncertainty as DaCosta doesn't give us easy answers. By playing with ambiguity and shifting how we see Hedda's story, she created something that felt both classic and new.