Hedda, based on Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 play Hedda Gabler, made its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Updated for a modern audience, Hedda is set in mid-century England, where a newlywed couple throws a party they can ill afford.
On the guest list is a past lover and current professional rival. That couldn’t cause any trouble, could it? What starts off as a night of companionship and playful jabs ends in bloodshed.
What is Hedda about?
Hedda (Tessa Thompson) has recently married George Tesman (Tom Bateman), and they want to make a good impression on her friends and his colleagues. A party is in order, even though buying the house—at Hedda’s request—has put George into significant debt. But it’s the best way to get George some face-time with his boss.
But there’s a slight hitch in this plan—Eileen (Nina Hoss). Once considered an embarrassment to the academic profession, Eileen has recently reinvented herself, and she’s going up in the academic world. So much so, that she and George are now vying for the same role.
Eileen credits one person for her transformation, Thea (Imogen Poots). The young housewife has been bedazzled by Eileen and found her wings, even co-authoring a book with Eileen. Everything rides on this one book. It’s the key to Thea’s salvation from her husband, and to Eileen’s career boost. It could also mean the end to George’s academic ascension. But worse, Eileen’s success is sure to put paid to any plans Hedda has for a life of hedonism and leisure. Hedda can’t let that happen.
How has Hedda been adapted for modern audiences?
When people talk about adaptations or source material, they treat it as gospel. As something so sacred, that it cannot be changed. It’s the excuse given for why so many adaptations of works by straight, white, male creators continue to reflect a bygone era.
Writer-director Nia DaCosta’s adaptation proves why the creators who are so faithful to original works are cowards. Hedda changes the time, the place, the protagonist, and the love interest of Ibsen’s original play, while never losing the sensibilities and heart of the story. She makes it look so easy, making this adaptation diverse with women of colour and queer relationships.
In the original play, Hedda was a white woman, and her lover was a man, Eilert, not Eileen. The changes in the film make the fabric of Hedda so much richer and more relevant to today’s audiences, all while preserving the essence of the text.
How are the production values of Hedda?
Hedda is a gorgeous film, richly-shot to encompass the beauty of the Tesman home and the verdant surrounding land. There are several one-shots that follow characters from room to room, highlighting the opulence of the property. It’s a great way to place the audience amidst the action while also showing off the extravagant sets.
The costumes are beautiful yet subtle, not a cacophony of colours, but more a harmony. While Hedda and Thea wear similar monotoned outfits, their paramour, Eileen wears a dress of black and white, her dual loves imprinted on her clothing. A little on the nose, but I liked it. Hedda is all about Eileen being pulled in two directions—to the past, with Hedda, and the present, with Thea. Why not have their clothes tell that story, as well?
But I have to mention the hair in Hedda. At the start of the party, when people are still on their best behaviour, everyone’s coiffeur is perfect, not a hair out of place. As tensions rise, more alcohol is consumed and some impromptu swimming takes place, everyone’s hair, and temper, goes awry. The aura of civility slowly diminishes with everyone’s lack of hair style. A simple yet powerful visual metaphor for the breakdown of relationships.
What are the relationships in Hedda like?
What a tangled web we weave in Hedda. The titular character may be newly married to George, but it isn’t for love, more a means to an end for Hedda. Her love really lies with Eileen, who she was with many years ago, before things ended very badly. Let’s just say, a gun was involved. And there’s Thea, Eileen’s new love, nowhere near as complicated as Hedda, but perhaps also, not as exciting.
Hedda herself is magnetic. George is enamoured with her, understandably so. She’s beautiful and unattainable. George is sweet but he’s a nerd. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a wife like Hedda.
But there’s a reason why Hedda has married him. She doesn’t have many prospects. When Eileen pleads with Hedda to make more of herself and become a writer or professor, Hedda scoffs. Because even as Eileen is breaking the glass ceiling for women at her university, there’s still no room for women of colour. Hedda would never be afforded the opportunities that Eileen has created for herself, even if she works just as hard. In a society that gives her no options, Hedda takes whatever chances she can get to reach a semblance of control.
That sense of control consumes most of the characters. Eileen is trying to control her own destiny by embracing sobriety. Thea is embracing freedom away from her unhappy marriage but she may not have understood how much she can control in her relationship with Eileen.
Losing control could spell disaster for most of the characters, especially the women of Hedda, who are navigating a world that still has no room for them. And that fear pushes them to make dangerous decisions.
How are the performances in Hedda?
Which brings me to the performances in Hedda. All that fear and desire for control comes through in quiet performances and measured glances. There are no histrionics here, and I absolutely love that about this film. Adapting from stage to film can often lead to two types of acting styles: static acting, or over-the-top gestures. Hedda’s acting is natural and multi-layered. And it’s driven by Tessa Thompson.
The role of Hedda has been played by a plethora of major names in Hollywood, whether on stage or screen—think Ingrid Bergman, Dame Maggie Smith, Ruth Wilson, to name a few. Tessa Thompson, from my understanding, might be one of the few, if not the first, women of color to play the role. She carries the film. Thompson’s Hedda is deliciously manipulative. The way she does it, the needling, the comparisons, the simpering, when needed—we’ve all known someone like her, and we’ve all warned others about her. Hedda makes people feel alternately so important or so small, depending on what she wants from them. It is marvelous watching Thompson work her sneers and her charms to gain the upper hand in every situation. Yet, in the moments when Hedda is alone, when we get to see how she really feels about the people around her, that’s when Thompson shines—the disdain for her husband and male lover, the tears she sheds for Eileen. Thompson is a delight to watch—you can’t help disliking Hedda for her actions, but you can never hate her.
Fortunately, Thompson is surrounded by strong performances. Hoss has had a storied career, and her Eileen is easy to root for. Hoss has such screen presence and in her well-styled gown, she holds the eye. You can immediately see why Hedda and Thea are so taken with her.
Imogen Poots does an excellent job of being the downtrodden and besotted Thea. Her hangdog expression until Eileen’s arrival, and the way her face lights up at her lover’s return demonstrates just how obsessed Thea is with her lover.
Can this adaptation of Hedda stand out among its predecessors?
DaCosta’s Hedda is an immersive film that makes diversity look so simple. This version will resonate with people of any race or sexuality, but it is particularly exciting for queer communities of colour to be represented in this film. Hedda is a gorgeous, rich text, so multi-layered with incredibly nuanced performances. Plus, the set design and costumes are exquisite.
But what really stands out about Hedda is that the women characters are so much more than their romantic relationships—they’re writers, professors, ambitious people who are determined to get what they want by any means necessary. This is the kind of film you can watch many times and find something new every time. I certainly can’t wait to do so.
Hedda had its world premiere at TIFF 2025. It will come to Prime Video on Wednesday, Oct. 24.
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