Tessa Thompson stars as a reimagined Hedda Gabler for the ages in Nia DaCosta’s electric, elegant period drama Hedda.
In Hedda (2025), Tessa Thompson‘s title character wants things the exact way she wants them. She does not want to be called by her husband’s surname, Tesman. She does not want decorations that look untidy, she does not want flowers in her foyer. And she really, really does not want her ex-lover’s new flame, Thea (Imogen Poots), at her home.
Nia DaCosta’s reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play moves the action from 1890s Norway to 1950s England, with Thompson in the title role. Thompson, whose period drama work includes the under-seen Sylvie’s Love and Passing, is dazzling here. Hedda and her husband George (Tom Bateman) are throwing a party they cannot afford to help George score a prestigious university endowment he may not get. She is calculating, ambitious, and a decisive party host where he is not. Hedda, depicted here as a Black woman among a predominantly white academic world, stands out visually and intellectually among the women of the party. Most women are unambitious arm candy, commenting on the quality of the gathering.
A period drama with sharp edges
Photo Credit: Prime Video/Amazon MGM Studios/Orion Pictures
The seemingly unflappable Hedda is thrown off course by the arrival of her ex-lover Eileen (Nina Hoss, in a gender-swap role form the original) and Eileen’s new partner, Thea. Eileen is newly sober, thanks to Thea’s help. Hedda cannot stand the idea of someone having greater power over Eileen than herself. It helps that costume designer Lindsay Pugh gives Eileen the film’s most striking costume, a party dress that evokes a man’s suit, to emphasize Nina’s place in Hedda’s world. She’s a far more important figure to Hedda than George could ever be.
It’s a woman’s world on and off the screen; DaCosta’s directing and screenplay give women far more time and interest. Equally effective is the jazzy, breathy score from Oscar-winner Hildur Guðnadóttir, with the discordant notes highlighting Hedda’s increasing instability. It’s a shame Amazon Studios is giving this film a minimal theatrical run and prioritizing streaming, as the gorgeous colors of Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography and Guðnadóttir’s anxious score would be more effective in a theater.
It’s Tessa Thompson’s world, we just live in it
Photo Credit: Prime Video/Amazon MGM Studios/Orion Pictures
The film is at its best when the camera—and script—maintain devotion to Hedda. Poots and Hoss are engaging but at their most electric when sparring with Hedda herself. Thompson is the nucleus around which Hedda forms, and it’s less engaging when she is neither speaking nor onscreen. Some films build themselves around a singular performance, for better or worse. The film’s framing device, choosing to find Hedda near the end of the story, punctures some of the surprise of the plot’s twists and turns.
The bottom line.
With homages to Spike Lee and Virginia Woolf embedded in its production, Hedda is a crowning achievement in Thompson’s already-exceptional career. DaCosta, one of the most efficient directors in recent years (Hedda is her fifth film since 2018, including the upcoming 28 Years Later sequel), is a cinematic risk-taker to watch. Hedda is a film to watch for its biting, sharp star turn, and that’s worth the journey itself.
Hedda (2025) is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Prime Video/Amazon MGM Studios/Orion Pictures. Read more articles by Claire Di Maio here.
REVIEW RATING
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'Hedda' (2025) - 7/10
7/10
Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).
