April 7, 2026
FILM: HAMLET
DIRECTED BY: ANEIL KARIA
STARRING: RIZ AHMED, ART MALIK, SHEEBA CHADDHA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I can’t approach my review of the new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as being anything close to that of a scholar of the playwright. In fact, I’ve never really studied or been a fan of his work. The language has always been much too distant for me however classic it is. No, I am coming at my evaluation of the latest film version to assess its accessibility and aesthetic value for movie audiences. This is, after all, a modern retelling of the Hamlet story, set in today’s London. Emmy and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed plays the title character who arrives at his father’s funeral only to discover that the death was caused by his uncle Claudius (Art Malik) who now plans to marry Hamlet’s mother Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha.) With revenge on his mind and in Shakespearian fashion, it all leads to a series of tragedies that take us into the darkest of human motives.
I’ve been a fan of Ahmed’s since I first saw him playing opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Dan Gilroy’s excellent 2014 film Nightcrawler. He made another great impression in the TV mini-series The Night Of, which won him his Emmy. I thought his performance in 2019’s Sound of Metal was outstanding, easily one of the best of that year. He won an Oscar for the short The Long Goodbye which he shared with Hamlet director Aneil Karia in 2022. He’s continued to do great work in films such as last year’s Relay and the new series Bait.
I mention all of this to suggest that Ahmed is one of our great actors/filmmakers working today who is definitely worthy of taking on the role of Hamlet. His performance here is intense and deeply moving. Because the film is set in contemporary times and is not being performed on a stage, Ahmed’s voice is more soft-spoken, almost a whisper at times. The negative of this is that those of us who aren’t as familiar with Shakespeare’s words might have a hard time understanding what he is saying. However, it is this naturalistic delivery that makes his version of Hamlet perhaps more relatable than other depictions. He sounds and looks like a guy struggling through an intense period of grief. At one point, he enters a club with loud dance music and strobe lights flashing. The setting is appropriate for the wound-up character in need of some temporary relief. The famous “to be or not to be” speech is given while Hamlet is driving angrily in a fast car. He’s dazed and becoming increasingly unhinged by the turn of events around him.
Watching a scene like this, one has to give in to the refined manner of speaking in an incongruent setting and time as Hamlet talks to himself out loud. Some may feel that same sense of distance from the material that I described earlier as verbal reality is thwarted in favor of the text. Even so, I still believe that Ahmed captures the true spirit of the words and embodies their meaning with passion and vigor.
The film is also very cinematic rather than stagey. Much of the story takes place in the darker sides of south London accompanied by haunting music and sounds. Tight close-ups are used for some of the longer speeches which help the communication of their messages. Once inside the lavish home, which Hamlet is now set to inherit from his father as king, the sets are exquisitely designed and feel as if they belong to this segment of upper crust society today.
There is also a major production number which has the look and sound that one might expect from a country like India, thus holding to the various South Asian cultural traditions also included in the story. However, the Danish names of Shakespeare’s characters are still used making it feel otherwise a bit off from that heritage. (For the record, Riz Ahmed is of British/Pakistani descent.)
Because Hamlet’s primary drive is to seek vengeance on the murder of his father, there are plenty of intensely orchestrated fight scenes between some of the key characters. These are very well shot often using handheld cameras and are meticulously cut for maximum effect, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
Ultimately, this a classic tragedy though and as such things get bleaker and bleaker toward the end. One might wonder, given the modern setting, where cellphones and police are to ward off some of the darker actions and brutality that take place. But then, this is a story about a messed up, rich family that has taken upon itself to solve its own issues in some of the most primitive of manners in keeping with Shakespeare’s original work.
Hamlet opens this week in theaters.
FILM: HAMLET
DIRECTED BY: ANEIL KARIA
STARRING: RIZ AHMED, ART MALIK, SHEEBA CHADDHA
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
I can’t approach my review of the new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet as being anything close to that of a scholar of the playwright. In fact, I’ve never really studied or been a fan of his work. The language has always been much too distant for me however classic it is. No, I am coming at my evaluation of the latest film version to assess its accessibility and aesthetic value for movie audiences. This is, after all, a modern retelling of the Hamlet story, set in today’s London. Emmy and Oscar winner Riz Ahmed plays the title character who arrives at his father’s funeral only to discover that the death was caused by his uncle Claudius (Art Malik) who now plans to marry Hamlet’s mother Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha.) With revenge on his mind and in Shakespearian fashion, it all leads to a series of tragedies that take us into the darkest of human motives.
I’ve been a fan of Ahmed’s since I first saw him playing opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Dan Gilroy’s excellent 2014 film Nightcrawler. He made another great impression in the TV mini-series The Night Of, which won him his Emmy. I thought his performance in 2019’s Sound of Metal was outstanding, easily one of the best of that year. He won an Oscar for the short The Long Goodbye which he shared with Hamlet director Aneil Karia in 2022. He’s continued to do great work in films such as last year’s Relay and the new series Bait.
I mention all of this to suggest that Ahmed is one of our great actors/filmmakers working today who is definitely worthy of taking on the role of Hamlet. His performance here is intense and deeply moving. Because the film is set in contemporary times and is not being performed on a stage, Ahmed’s voice is more soft-spoken, almost a whisper at times. The negative of this is that those of us who aren’t as familiar with Shakespeare’s words might have a hard time understanding what he is saying. However, it is this naturalistic delivery that makes his version of Hamlet perhaps more relatable than other depictions. He sounds and looks like a guy struggling through an intense period of grief. At one point, he enters a club with loud dance music and strobe lights flashing. The setting is appropriate for the wound-up character in need of some temporary relief. The famous “to be or not to be” speech is given while Hamlet is driving angrily in a fast car. He’s dazed and becoming increasingly unhinged by the turn of events around him.
Watching a scene like this, one has to give in to the refined manner of speaking in an incongruent setting and time as Hamlet talks to himself out loud. Some may feel that same sense of distance from the material that I described earlier as verbal reality is thwarted in favor of the text. Even so, I still believe that Ahmed captures the true spirit of the words and embodies their meaning with passion and vigor.
The film is also very cinematic rather than stagey. Much of the story takes place in the darker sides of south London accompanied by haunting music and sounds. Tight close-ups are used for some of the longer speeches which help the communication of their messages. Once inside the lavish home, which Hamlet is now set to inherit from his father as king, the sets are exquisitely designed and feel as if they belong to this segment of upper crust society today.
There is also a major production number which has the look and sound that one might expect from a country like India, thus holding to the various South Asian cultural traditions also included in the story. However, the Danish names of Shakespeare’s characters are still used making it feel otherwise a bit off from that heritage. (For the record, Riz Ahmed is of British/Pakistani descent.)
Because Hamlet’s primary drive is to seek vengeance on the murder of his father, there are plenty of intensely orchestrated fight scenes between some of the key characters. These are very well shot often using handheld cameras and are meticulously cut for maximum effect, creating a chaotic atmosphere.
Ultimately, this a classic tragedy though and as such things get bleaker and bleaker toward the end. One might wonder, given the modern setting, where cellphones and police are to ward off some of the darker actions and brutality that take place. But then, this is a story about a messed up, rich family that has taken upon itself to solve its own issues in some of the most primitive of manners in keeping with Shakespeare’s original work.
Hamlet opens this week in theaters.