To see or not to see? I feel like that is the question critics are asking, but somehow feels very different when being asked by a blind film critic. It really puts that clever flip on the classic Shakespeare quote in a whole new light, doesn’t it?
One of the many cases where my screener did not have audio description, but simultaneously, I’m not putting on my bumpkin hat and pretending to be unfamiliar with Hamlet. I do find it amusing that this film has apparently been in some form of gestation for over ten years. On one hand, it should take that long to justify yet another adaptation of Hamlet, and on another, it shouldn’t because everyone is always doing Hamlet. Hell, we just had Hamnet, and maybe some will be tricked into believing this is in direct connection to Jessie Buckley’s Oscar Winning turn.
there is not much to say here. it is exactly what it says it is, an adaptation of Hamlet starring Oscar nominee Riz Ahmed, but the devil is very much in the details. Riz has spoken out about what drew him to the project, saying that he related a lot to Hamlet as a youth, although he might be out of touch now since he’s actually older than me. Kids nowadays suffer from anxiety for a variety of reasons. Seriously, the ones I work with carry stuffed animals around with them to help them get through the day. I’m basically the same generation as Ahmed, and I think perhaps his ideas about reaching the current Gen Alpha with this modern twist might be a bit out of his reach. but still, this is a passion project, as it is for any actor who has ever gotten to play Hamlet ever.
They’ve updated it and modernized the look, but kept the text. So, someone came along with a pair of hedge clippers and hacked away at Shakespeare’s text to make this fit under a two hour runtime. The school of thought here is that this version is trying to do something different, like Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet did in the 90’s.Of course, that was a big success, in terms of finding its audience, so can Ahmed find his people? He’s diversified the cast. I’m unfamiliar with most of them, as I just don’t know every British actor, but I did clock the welcome presence of Timothy Spall.
The ensemble is there to support Ahmed, because the work itself has been heavily cut to really focus only on his point of view, to the detriment of side plots that feature scenes without him. Ahmed is getting critical praise not just because he’s good, but because he is the film. The director has chosen to shoot from Ahmed’s perspective, sometimes, almost literally giving you that first person point of view.
I struggled with this, because my favorite version of Hamlet is Hamlet. the actual totality of the work itself. That doesn’t count Lion King, which I might actually enjoy more, sadly, but as a byproduct, my favorite version is Kenneth branaugh’s loyalist approach, really making a cinematic excursion of the text, and trying to adapt to scale, while maintaining integrity.
the 2026 version gets by on a stellar lead performance, and some killer ideas, like transplanting Hamlet’s “to be” speech into a car, where there’s a sense of real urgency behind it as Hamlet barrels down the road, white knuckling as he asks that question. Suddenly, a line that initially felt introspective feels immediate, like Hamlet might rewrite the entire piece by choosing to not be and run his car off the road.
While it may not be a glowing review, I think there’s enough here, that if you want a stylized and abbreviated revival of the text, this is for you. I fought my bias on this one, as I think the audacity to chop Shakespeare’s text as much as they have is detrimental to the totality of the work, shifting character motivations, and truncating plot structure. But, Riz is in this all the way, and he gives a commanding performance. There are reasons to see this.
If you are a Shakespeare purist, this is not for you. However, if you can appreciate the perspective at play, and allow riz Ahmed’s stunning turn, it might be. Remember, there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Fresh: 6.4/10
