Feed aggregator

Keeper is awash with style but lacks a little in deeper substance to captivate me through some seven hours of exploration.

There's been something of a narrative that new Prime Video movie Hedda is simply a Saltburn-style retelling of Henrik Ibsen's classic play Hedda Gabler, but that doesn't remotely do it justice. Those who think the gender-swapped characters and LGBTQIA+ romance are the most interesting things about it aren't digging deeply enough.

If there's anyone that knows a thing or 35 about sapphic movies, it's me. I report on them every chance I get, and if I'm not doing that, I've likely worked Carol, Ammonite or Bound into conversation. I'll confess that Hedda caught my interested because of Nina Hoss – who played Cate Blanchett's fictional wife in Tár – but little did I know what a treat I was in for.

Of course this film isn't perfect. Considering how messy Hedda is as a character alone, it was never going to be. But there's no doubt that this is the strongest entry in director Nia DaCosta's body of work to date. She received an unjustified amount of flack for The Marvels and the 2021 version of Candyman, and I hope the same doesn't happen here.

We almost need to read between the lines to fully see the brilliance of what Hedda has to offer, and that's half the fun. A friend described it to me as a whodunnit mystery where you already know who the killer is (instead you're searching for the motive), and I think that's a fair assessment.

It's sexy, scandalous and as wild as you'd hope it to be, but it's also controlled, pulling back when it needs to. When it comes to creating a memorable dinner party, that's exactly the balance of tension that you're looking for.

Hedda is more than simply sex and scandal – it's a moving mirror

If you're unfamiliar with Ibsen's original story, this is what we're dealing with: Hedda (Tessa Thompson) is an unhappy newlywed, feeling like she's being stopped from being her true self. When her husband George (Tom Bateman) wants a new position at work, Hedda decides to throw an extravagant party so George can invite boss Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch) and try to seal the deal.

During the evening, George's rival Eileen (Hoss) arrives to poach Professor Greenwood for the same role, prompting the party to fall into chaotic disarray. Eileen's writing partner and lover Thea (Imogen Poots) tries to keep her on the straight and narrow, but Hedda takes her meddling too far.

The most satisfying part of Hedda is how effortlessly DaCosta pulls off dangerous power play dynamics between women, with the man's world around them becoming peripheral in the process. Thompson's Hedda isn't a woman that you'll like, or who even seems to consciously know what she wants.

She's acting on impulse, and everyone around her feels the consequences of the decisions she makes. This means a hell of a dinner party for us, bringing long-buried tension and trauma to the surface, where they explode onto whoever is nearby. That's usually Eileen and Thea, and boy is their romantic triangle a complex one.

Where the structure falters, the cast hold it up

Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots in Hedda. (Image credit: Prime Video)

The core structure of Hedda isn't playing to shock factor like Saltburn, and it arguably could have deepened and ultilized the intimacy and pure romance between the three women a lot further. But even with these small faults, our cast deliver something to be in awe of.

While Thompson's accent is… interesting in the Prime Video film, her conviction and gumption can't be faulted. It's not easy to make us completely devoid of empathy for a character while still making them likeable, and she maintains the balance at all times. Poots plays an effective counterpart as anxious Thea, calling out Hedda's manipulation like she's shouting into the wind.

For me, it's Hoss who gives the performance of the movie. There's an exceptional scene after Eileen gets drunk and swims in the lake, entering the drawing room to talk to her male rivals while her dress is wet and see-through. She tells explicit stories on top form, and by the time she has them metaphorically eating out of her hand, the dress is dry.

This is the level of detail that's worth paying attention to, making the overall effect of Hedda as filling as a sumptuous cake, caressing every possible details of humanity to serve up an ugly truth worth devouring. It's tough to make odious people appealing, but we love to watch when it works (that's why reality TV is so popular).

Without spoiling anything, DaCosta also changes the ending of Ibsen's play. With one simple tweak, she removes sapphic media stereotyping that Hedda could have easily fallen prey to, and that alone is a fantastic way to sum up what she has achieved.

We've all had enough of classics being adapted, but when they hold a mirror up to who we've become and what we're capable of so deftly, who are we to look away?

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.

You might also like

• Invincible season 4 trailer reveals early 2026 release window as Thragg voice actor confirmed for hit Prime Video show's next chapter
• ‘We love working with both of them’: Why Harlan Coben’s Lazarus being on Prime Video isn’t a death knell for Netflix
• Mr and Mrs Smith season 2: what we know so far about the hit Prime Video show's return

Hedda is more than the original play or a Saltburn wannabe, and Nia DaCosta's craft makes all the difference

Exploring how long-term memory transforms AI from transactional tools into trusted, enduring user experiences.

Don't be fooled by security tools with AI promises, most are just useless wrappers on existing data.

A good laptop doesn’t need to break the bank as these sub-$300 PCs from Acer, Dell, Asus and Lenovo prove.

Looking for NYT Connections answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, plus my commentary on the puzzles.

Looking for NYT Strands answers and hints? Here's all you need to know to solve today's game, including the spangram.

Looking for Quordle clues? We can help. Plus get the answers to Quordle today and past solutions.

It's a big week for new TV shows, with the return of fan-favorites and the premiere of long-awaited series on the best streaming services.

The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro are both superb smartphones, but they're also aimed at different types of users.

The Xbox Ally X isn't the handheld console the name implies. But it's still sold out, despite debuting as fans rage against price increase to Game Pass.

(Image credit: Microsoft/ASUS)

Those running Android 8 won't be able to take advantage of any updates to the Android Auto operating system.

A status conference is set for Friday afternoon after union lawyers said the Trump administration is violating a court order that temporarily blocks mass firings during the government shutdown.

(Image credit: Mehmet Eser)

Windows AI Labs is offering some experimental capabilities for Paint, which look powerful - if rough around the edges.

Bloodlines 2 tries to revive a cult classic but ends up lifeless, drained of depth and style.

Colter Shaw's survival skills still crack cases, but is his family at the center of one of them? Here's how to watch Tracker season 3 online and from anywhere.

The ransomware entered 'phase 3' in February 2025 becoming a full-blown malicious business platform.

Forty years ago this month, the comedic basketball troupe, the Harlem Globetrotters, added a woman to its roster. NPR's Ashley Montgomery has the story of legendary athlete Lynette Woodard.

(Image credit: Mike Powell/Getty Images)

You'll be able to stream the action and watch favorites like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.