Hedda Gabler is a glorious bitch, and Tessa Thompson was born to play her. First unleashed upon the world in the titular 1891 play by Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler would go on to become a figure so compelling and conniving that actresses for over a century — from Ingrid Bergman to Diana Rigg, Maggie Smith to Cate Blanchett — have relished the opportunity to play her. But Thompson, in Nia DaCosta’s fiery reimagining Hedda, takes this role to rich and wild new places, and it’s a devilish thrill to witness.
Thompson and DaCosta previously collaborated on the latter’s directorial debut, the critically heralded drama Little Woods, in 2018. By the time they reteamed five years later for The Marvels, both had grown far more famous. DaCosta had helmed the much-anticipated reboot of Candyman, while Thompson had become a favorite in the MCU as the hard-drinking, shit-talking Valkyrie. Fitting then that these two should reunite for Hedda, which centers on a similar character in those provocative respects. However, this antiheroine prefers pistols over swords, and sinister social manipulations over snarled insults.
Making several major changes to Hedda Gabler, DaCosta crafts a splendid showcase for Thompson, cementing her as a cinematic siren of the modern age, one who should be compared to the likes of Gloria Swanson, Bette Davis, and Glenn Close. They all played women who were dangerous, devilish, and even deranged, and we love them for every wild moment.
Nia DaCosta’s Hedda is bold, brash, and queer.
Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
As Hedda‘s screenwriter, DaCosta transplants Ibsen’s late 19th-century story to 1954 England, allowing for the spectacle of flouncing ballgowns and bohemian flair. Both will be on kinetic display during the action of the play, condensed down to a single party thrown over one long night by the eponymous antiheroine.
Fresh from her honeymoon with her her proper but boring husband George Tesman (Tom Bateman), newlywed Hedda (Thompson) is eager to show off their obscenely luxurious home, complete with a sprawling lawn and pond. But before the party even begins, trouble brews with the arrival of some unwelcome guests. Neither gets a warm reception from Hedda.
The powerful and opportunistic Judge Roland Brack (Nicholas Pinnock) comes with worrisome news and leering eyes, which Hedda meets with a playful fire from her late father’s military pistols. Her former schoolmate Thea Clifton (Imogen Poots) fares no better, dressed up like a doll then dressed down like a fool as she spills her heart out to Hedda. Thea is looking to leave her husband and take up with the hot professor with whom she’s written a scientific manuscript they believe will have a huge impact. Poor Thea doesn’t realize that this professor — genderswapped here as Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss) — was Hedda’s old flame, and one of them barely survived that breakup.
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When Eileen arrives at Hedda’s party, she is an embodiment of feminine power. Costume designer Lindsay Pugh dresses Hoss in a gown that is both hard and soft, accentuating her broad shoulders and robust bust. She looks like the figurehead of a mighty ship, ready to surge forth into a future unknown. Unfortunately for her, Hedda has plans, treating every member of this packed party like playthings for her own dark amusements.
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Tessa Thompson is a vision of longing and vengeance in Hedda.
Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Draped in silk gloves, pearls, and gowns cinched and tailored to perfection, Hedda is gorgeous and glamorous. She babies her bangs. She wears the key to her gun chest dangling in her décolletage. And she tops it all off with a blood-red lipstain that perfectly accentuates Thompson’s signature smirk. From her first appearance, it’s clear Hedda lives for trouble.
Partiers whispering secrets will spill her painful backstory, which seems to glint like the edge of a knife in Thompson’s eyes — even when she’s all smiles for her guests. But the core of Hedda Gabler is a razor-sharp wit paired with an unabashed cruelty. The world has dared to bore Hedda, and so she will gladly watch it burn. Hell, she’ll strike the match if need be.
Thompson captures this devil-may-care attitude with a fluid physicality, whether twirling on a dance floor, capering through a hedge maze, or escaping deadly dull small talk. There’s an enviable freedom in Hedda’s recklessness in such moments. But in her vulnerable moments, it’s clear she’s in a gilded cage of her own making with no easy way out. So, she rages not at the bars but at those whose freedom she envies.
While other actors have played the role with restraint, Thompson’s Hedda has a ball raising hell, and it’s a fabulous thrill to watch her. She’s lit up from desire, be it sexual, poltitical, or self-destructive. And with every raised eyebrow, sultry smirk, or purred barb, she is exhilarating. Props to Hoss, who plays the only character who can match Hedda’s will. Hoss exudes a dizzying confidence, and shares an electrifying sexual chemistry with Thompson — and Poots, for that matter. Through her steadfast screen presence, she ties the love story together, because of who wouldn’t be wooed by this Eileen?
Hedda goes big with style, sex, and rage.
Credit: Amazon MGM Studios
Though set in an English estate, DaCosta rejects the somberness and restraint of many a British period piece. Hedda’s barbs may be subtle at times, but her movie is full of attitude, energy, and color. Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt practically chases her around this stately home, as if a jealous lover desperate to keep an eye on her. The suaveness of the camera’s movement as it graces across her face, her gown, and her gathering of revelers reflects the control Hedda has over all in her circle. The film’s color palette is rich in gold hues, warm and all the better to enhance a blushing cheek or a throbbing bosom. And perhaps on a symbolic level this hue reminds the viewer, “all that glitters is not gold.”
The production design and costumes ooze with sex appeal and excess — textures, pearls, and prints adorn every limb, wall, and surface. Captured so carefully by Bobbitt’s lens, you can practically feel the lace, velvet, and taffeta on your fingertips. Like in Saltburn, a queer thriller about jealousy, lust, and sinister social-climbing, this reveling in the richness of Hedda’s surroundings visually communicates the antihero’s ambitions for wealth and status, but also gives these things a sensuality, connecting them to what (or who) must be sacrificed to achieve them.
Then, to bolster all this lushness, music supervisor Mandy Mamlet brings into play cover songs like “Gopher Mambo” and “It’s Oh So Quiet” (famously covered by Björk in 2003), which reflect Hedda’s thirst for excitement and love. Dash prim orchestrations and swelling strings, give me a chartreuse bellowing into the microphone with the ferocity of an animal captured — or a woman in unreciprocated love.
Altogether, DaCosta’s vision is one rich in queer longing, decadent drama, and unapologetic excess. Hedda Gabler is an iconic role, one that’s fascinated audiences and actresses for generations because of her undeniable viciousness and inarguable charms. Here, DaCosta and Thompson make her their own, folding in themes of queerness, race, and gender politics through casting, and digging in with changes to Ibsen’s original story. In this way, Hedda’s rage becomes more specific and universal, while still achingly timeless.
But even if you’ve never seen a Hedda Gabler, it’s easy to fall for Hedda. Sumptuous, hot, and challenging, this is a drama of love, sex, and regret that burns like a shot of whisky, so good you’ll want to go at it again.
Hedda was reviewed out of the Toronto International Film Festival. The movie will open in the U.S. in select theaters on Oct. 22, with an expansion on Oct. 29.
