Shakespeare’s Hamlet has been adapted for the big screen many times. The latest version of Hamlet made its Canadian premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, this time showcasing a South-Asian-British family.
Directed by Aneil Karia, in just his second feature, Hamlet sees the son of a prominent CEO overcome by grief at his father’s loss. How will one man’s desire for revenge affect family, friends, and even strangers?
What is Hamlet about?
The 2025 Hamlet opens with Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) performing the last rites for his father, Hamlet Sr (Avijit Dutt). He is silent throughout the funeral, and even as extended family members ask after his well-being, Hamlet is unable to articulate his feelings.
It is only when Hamlet is called to an audience with his uncle, Claudius (Art Malik), and his mother, Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha), that Hamlet finds his words. And they are of shock. Barely a week after his father’s death, and Claudius and Gertrude announce their desire to marry.
Hamlet has little choice but to acquiesce to the engagement. But the speed of the betrothal strikes him as nothing less than “wicked.”
Following a night out with his friend Laertes (Joe Alwyn) when Hamlet indulges in a little too much, his fears are confirmed via a visit from the ghost of his father. Hamlet must uncover the truth and avenge his father’s death.
What’s new about the 2025 Hamlet?
This is the first Hamlet adaptation with a predominantly non-white cast. There is clearly an appetite for such a diverse version, because the screening I attended was sold out, despite being the film’s third screening at TIFF. The applause as the credits rolled is testament to how engaging this new version of the play was after four centuries.
The South Asian elements add a vibrancy and uniqueness to the play that completely captivated me. From the opening funeral rituals, to the drum band at the wedding of Claudius and Gertrude, and even the small, intimate moments, where Hamlet’s family spoke to him lovingly in Hindi, there were moments that were so familiar to me as a South-Asian viewer. But the attention to detail is what I loved—the henna on wedding guests’ hands at the wedding, pared down to a few floral patterns to honour the late Hamlet Sr’s death. Usually, wedding henna is a riotous affair, covering the entire hand and wrist in intricate patterns.
But for anyone who doubts whether a South-Asian Hamlet is needed, I implore them to watch the play scene. In Hamlet, the play he puts on at the wedding is a crucial moment—it’s when he gets definitive proof about his father’s death. We’ve seen various versions—the play-within-a-play was what made Shakespeare’s Hamlet so complex and well-executed. The 2000 Hamlet with Ethan Hawke, had him show a film to his mother and uncle.
In this 2025 Hamlet, we get a classic Indian dance. And it is marvellous. It is unexpected. It is heart-thumping. The scene is brilliantly-edited but it is also visually arresting. The central dancer is mesmerizing and the camera stays on him as he dances, emotes, and terrifies Claudius. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the actor’s name, but I certainly hope we get to see him play many roles in the future.
How does Hamlet handle the monologues?
Shakespeare’s plays are known for their monologues. For stage actors, these long scenes must be particularly challenging and rewarding. In film, I don’t think it translated as well. Whereas the rest of Hamlet felt so realistic and life-like, the monologues seemed out of place. Because we don’t monologue in real life. I wish the film had done something more stage-like and had Hamlet turn to the camera and talk to the audience.
Having said that, the monologues are shot beautifully. The entire film appears to have been filmed on handheld cameras. That’s where that added realism comes from. And it places the audience in the action.
For almost all, but one, of the monologues, the scene is executed in one shot. Ahmed delivers his lines and brings the emotions without the camera once cutting away from him. Had he been on stage, he would have had to do the same, with the exception that the closeness of the camera can be unforgiving. I wonder how many takes Ahmed needed to get those monologues right, because his performance is deeply affecting.
How are the performances in Hamlet?
Doing Shakespeare is considered a huge achievement for many actors. Whether they bring the plays to life on stage or screen, it’s a feat of acting to capture Shakespeare’s particular dialogue and iambic pentameter rhythm.
The 2025 Hamlet might be the most accomplished Shakespearean acting I’ve seen. Every actor brings their all. Of course, the focus is on Ahmed, and it seems like he was made to be Hamlet. He makes the role completely his own, giving his Hamlet layers of grief, doubt, fear, and hopelessness.
Morfydd Clark, who plays Ophelia, is an excellent choice for the character. Ophelia is quite a thankless character, but Clark brings a hopefulness and adoration for Hamlet that make her dialogue so much more believable. She’s set a high bar.
Art Malik is a veteran of the screen, and he is delightful as the charming but suspiciously friendly Claudius. I actually wish the camera hadn’t focused as much on Ahmed sometimes, because Malik got left out of a lot of his scenes.
But the absolute star of Hamlet was Sheeba Chaddha as Gertrude. Never have I seen a Gertrude with such depth and such nuance. I finally ‘get’ Gertrude because of Chaddha. She finds layers to the character that I don’t even think Shakespeare had considered. Truly a remarkable performance that elevates this film into the stratosphere.
What makes this Hamlet stand out?
It is worth celebrating a South-Asian Hamlet. The setting, the family dynamics, the dance, the colours, the music. It’s so different from Hamlets that have come before. The TIFF website describes the film as “kinetic” and it is absolutely right. The frenetic pacing of this film has the audience at the edge of the seat, while also making us savour the quieter character moments.
But what stood out to me about this film was how much detail the writer had plumbed from the original text. This Hamlet isn’t just a play about murder and revenge; it’s a contemplation on the state of grief.
Because Hamlet is grieving a profound grief that he can neither articulate nor resolve. Yet everyone around him, particularly his mother, are more than happy to move on with their lives. The way this film handles Hamlet’s grief is remarkable. From that last rites scene, where Hamlet is so lovingly, and stoically for his family, applying turmeric to his father’s body, to the way he clings to his funeral whites, this is not a man that has accepted his father’s fate.
And therein lies the other unusual aspect of this film—this is the first Hamlet I’ve seen which ponders whether Hamlet is right in his assumptions about his uncle. And once I started wondering that, I couldn’t stop marvelling at this film. Despite reading and watching Hamlet before, this 2025 version proved to be so unique in its sensibilities, its execution, its acting, and the direction of its story. This might just be the definitive Hamlet for me for a good long while.
Hamlet had its Canadian premiere at TIFF 2025.