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Prime Video has just launched the period drama Hedda, from director Nia DaCosta.
Starring Tessa Thompson in the titular role, the film focuses on Hedda Gabler, a bored wife, who is trapped in a marriage.
Taking place in one night, the film follows a party thrown by Hedda to aid her teacher husband in landing a prestigious professorship and a financial endowment at the university.
However, things go awry as she reunites with a former flame, Eileen Lövborg (Nina Hoss), who arrives at her home as an unexpected party guest.
The film stars Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, and Nicholas Pinnock, and is set in 1950s England, based on the play of the same name by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
The film premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7 and began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on October 29.
Fans loved the film, with many encouraging other to stream it, and insist that it should have had more promotional marketing.
‘Honestly? I feel like us festival attendees may have undervalued Hedda, because it’s hitting in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I don’t know how far that goes…but it might go further than people gave it credit for in September. And Amazon is seriously pushing it,’ said blewis1103.
‘Hedda is now streaming on@PrimeVideo which is its wide release; it’s terrific and, while I wish it had a long theatrical run (I saw it twice on the big screen—it’s even better the second time), hard to imagine it even existing without a streamer’s backing,’ said tnyfrontrow.
‘Two of the best performances of the year in one of the best-written, most finely-crafted films of the year. EVERYONE SEE HEDDA!,’ said dancindanonfilm.
‘Amazon is doing a horrible job marketing it, but tomorrow Hedda drops on streaming!! Nia DeCosta and Tessa Thompson are a match made in heaven. It has everything: Parties, lesbians, academia, affairs, and guns,’ said bertoni_film.
After its festival premiere, critics praised the film, and it earned a 90% rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Many pointed out the film’s fun themes and Tessa Thompson’s standout performance.
Sarah Marrs said for Lainey Gossip: ‘Hedda is a vicious film, as unapologetically toxic and cruel as it is stylish and fun, anchored by Tessa Thompson’s beautifully awful performance.’
Amy Nicholson for the Los Angeles Times said: ‘Their rollicking redo, set from dusk to hangover at a drunken bacchanal, is vibrant and viciously alive. With apologies to Ibsen’s ghost, DaCosta’s tweaks have sharpened its rage.’
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw said: ‘Ibsen meets Downton Abbey in Nia DaCosta’s exotic rendering of classic play.’
Hedda is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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