X
- 2019
- PG-13
- IFC Films
- 1 h 54 m
- 2019
- PG-13
- IFC Films
- 1 h 54 m
Summary Set in the 14th Century but spoken in a contemporary voice, Ophelia is a dynamic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) takes center stage as Queen Gertrude’s (Naomi Watts) most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet (George MacKay) and a for...
Directed By: Claire McCarthy
Written By: Semi Chellas, Lisa Klein, William Shakespeare
- 2019
- PG-13
- IFC Films
- 1 h 54 m
- 2019
- PG-13
- IFC Films
- 1 h 54 m
Ophelia
60
6.5
Where to Watch
Summary Set in the 14th Century but spoken in a contemporary voice, Ophelia is a dynamic re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) takes center stage as Queen Gertrude’s (Naomi Watts) most trusted lady-in-waiting. Beautiful and intelligent, she soon captures the attention of the handsome Prince Hamlet (George MacKay) and a for...
Directed By: Claire McCarthy
Written By: Semi Chellas, Lisa Klein, William Shakespeare
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
60
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
43% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 23 Critic Reviews
60
48% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
43% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Ridley is simply extraordinary, and she and MacKay give us a younger, lustier Ophelia and Hamlet than we usually get on the big screen.
This vigorous, colorful 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 reimagining her fate.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
6.5
42% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
46% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
12% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 User Ratings
6.5
42% Positive
11 Ratings
11 Ratings
46% Mixed
12 Ratings
12 Ratings
12% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
had no interest in the film but saw this on Netflix pop up so I gave it a try and now its my top 10 film. steven price is such a great composer.
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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.
An interesting, well played and well made attempt to reframe Shakespeare’s most famous play through a feminist lens, Ophelia ultimately doesn’t have the boldness to deliver on its resonant idea.
What sinks the movie (rather than the character) are the tortured melodramatics of its backstage plot and dialogue that aims for clever — and sometimes is — but that generally approximates Shakespeare for, like, beginners.
They’ve created not a bold revision but a bland empowerment tale, devoid of everything that makes Hamlet great.
The result is pretty to look at, with the misty lakes and foreboding forests of Denmark beautifully photographed and the costumes lavishly designed, but the sad (and boring) result has none of the bold thrust or festering passion originally created by the Bard.
Daisy Ridley is the best person I have ever seen. Her action is amazing and her action makes me hyped! I cried so hard at the end of the film. It’s really emotional and great film!
Love this film so much!! Thank you so much for making this film!!
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A bold and fresh take on the outdated and already overglorified Hamlet tale. It's essentially the same except some the characters (Hamlet, Ophelia, Laertes, and Horatio) are a lot younger than how they're usually portrayed and that this story is now centered around Hamlet's love interest and is told from her perspective instead of Hamlet himself who WAS always the title protagonist of this old tale. The cast is wonderful and give fairly good performances, especially Daisy Ridley who is a gifted young adult actress. But the film's execution is dry and the story is confusing (well, to be honest, I always found Hamlet confusing). The tone is confused and doesn't seem to decide whether it is a melodrama or a romantic drama. This film was honestly boring and had me fall asleep on some parts. It doesn't really add much to the Hamlet story as it seemingly tried to aim for. It was mostly depressing filler. I'd say this is worth watching at least once, but not worth buying.
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Too ambitious to ignore, but too fabricated to remember, Ophelia is not exactly a super hot mess of a film, but the proper foundation is already in their hands, and they wasted it on a mediocre execution on this fresh feministic take of a well-regarded story about love and betrayal. Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts remain consistently strong in this another "one-of-those-missed-opportunity" movies.
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An interesting different perspective for Hamlet that unfortunately only stays in that; interesting because it never seems to be 100% sure what way to take with the narrative and how to take it in a good way that's surprising considering the material lent itself to something more proactive and convincing and not so passive
No doubt a film with a feminist perspective and that's not a bad thing for all those who are offended by that word but this film stays in the same line of recent films like: Effie Gray, Madame Bovary, Mary Shelley and Mary Queen of Scots, which are stories featuring interesting and solid female characters to whom writers and directors find it difficult to do them justice.
At least Daisy Ridley shows she has the guns to continue with her career after Star Wars.
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Maybe, maybe a smart move, but don't forget that the "maybe" is in capitals.
Ophelia
McCarthy is not around, let's say, the best circle. Which also isn't an excuse for the director Claire McCarthy to print something so sloppy as this version. The version has the source William Shakespeare, the endless mine that everyone digs gleefully. How rich has his world to be, that a fortune is spent every time in every good or bad possible way and yet not a dime rusts by. The literature belittles the feature more, since it comes with a guarantee card of working for nine out of ten times. And oh! to walk over that one line. The film takes part as much as the titled character does in this tale.
For the most part of it, it is fabricated as a point of view of a spectator and so there is another wall between us and the real drama including the screen. And then when it takes part, the narrative shifts from third person storytelling to first person. Now, the makers ask us to be moved or touched by the gesture or actions that merits only in that very frame but wishes to carry the weight of all the characters and all their tracks and all the elements gifted to us, by then.
It is bound to break its backbone, as the sheer pressure extracts the malleability from the posture, and as a result you won't be able to stand this debacle. In fact, I would blame the performance too. Yes, Naomi Watts has to cloak in for a blaming game, but the fingers are pointed to no one and the real tears, dry. Clive Owen feels like a tourist and cries to rule the home, while Ophelia played by Daisy Ridley, the heart of the politics, remains more like meant-to-be the heart of the politics.
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Production Company
Covert Media,
Bert Marcus Productions,
Bobker / Kruger Films,
Forthcoming Films,
Freebury Productions
Release Date Jun 28, 2019
Duration 1 h 54 m
Rating PG-13
Tagline Vengeance Destroys Love.
Awards
New Zealand Cinematographers Society
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Australian Cinematographers Society
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
