Hedda
Hedda Gabler is a woman who is manipulative, obsessed with power, and will do whatever she can to accomplish her goals. She has acquaintances but no real friends, a husband but she is the dominant in the marriage, and will do what she can in order to be successful. She also gives Tessa Thompson one of the richest characters of her career. Nia DaCosta’s latest collaboration with her “Little Woods” star is fascinating and kept me engrossed the entire way.
In a few months, we’ll be getting a new DaCosta film in her follow-up to “28 Years Later.” Her career has bounced her back-and-forth between drama and genre filmmaking (with 2021’s “Candyman” and 2023’s “The Marvels”) and that dichotomy in her resume serves her well in adapting Henrik Ibsen’s stage play. From the outset, the theatricality of DaCosta’s approach to the material is emphasized through Thompson’s performance. Hedda is almost not a flesh-and-blood character with emotions, but a projection of ambitions. She wanted an extravagant mansion, so she found a way for her academic husband George (Tom Bateman) to give it to her. Tonight, they are hosting colleagues and friends as a way in hopes of George getting a professorship that will allow them to get out of the debt they sunk into the mansion. But an old flame of Hedda’s, an academic and author named Eileen (Nina Hoss), is also looking to get the same position. She’s changed considerably since she was with Hedda, in part due to her relationship with Thea (Imogen Poots), who’s gotten her sober, and helped her with her writing. The possibilities for Hedda are endless in terms of how to derail her ex-lover’s attempts.
DaCosta’s production is elegant and breathtakingly staged. The production design by Cara Brower is beautiful to take in, and is shown off to great effect with cinematographer Sean Bobbitt’s camera. The way this film looks is wonderful to take in before you even get to the performances, and it also has what is probably one of my favorite scores from Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker,” “Women Talking”) to date, which adds to all of the tensions flying about on this day and evening. There are many characters that come in and out of focus throughout the film, but it ultimately comes down to the ones closest to Hedda. George’s gradual realization of the truth of his place in Hedda’s life. Thea’s anxieties about Eileen, first in hoping people will see how much she’s changed, then as Hedda starts to get into her head, and lead her down a familiar path. Eileen’s attempts to hold it together, even as Hedda tries to manipulate her to her husband’s advantage. And then, there’s Hedda herself, holding court and working to put the people in her life right where she wants them. There are very good performances all around, but Thompson’s is a force of nature. That helps when you have a filmmaker unafraid to challenge both herself, and her leads.
