Ophelia Review

June 23, 2019 at 4:52pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a dramatic, somewhat over the top film that focuses on the tale of Hamlet, but from the perspective of Ophelia. It’s an interesting idea, that doesn’t necessarily carry the same weight that the original play does. You get some extra highlights as they try to put together a compelling tale, but at the same it comes across as rather silly.

That’s the just of what some aspects of the play are, but in a re-imagining I thought they might go a bit wilder. The story will be familiar to those that know of Hamlet, but they do add some fresh ideas. It goes off in its own way, but at the same time I wish there was more development for the characters involved.

It focuses heavily on just Ophelia (Daisy Ridley) and the events she sees. This is fine, but there’s some perspective that’s being lacked in this. If you’re not familiar with the play, it might be harder to follow or understand why certain events are taking place in this film.

When it comes to performances I thought they were generally fine, Ridley was solid here. Some of the side characters don’t have a whole lot to do, with motivations that are just slightly apparent. I thought the costumes were excellent, and the sets were lovely.

Some of the scenes looked really good and the use of a natural environment certainly added to the atmosphere. Ophelia is an individual was well developed, but again going back I had just wanted more from the rest of the cast. The film isn’t taking a general audience into full account here, as they may not know of the tale that this shifts around.

The Conclusion

Ophelia is a fine companion to those with the knowledge of Hamlet, bringing a fresh perspective to the tale. That being said, it’s harder to follow or understand the context of what certain actions have without the knowledge of the original source material. This would make it seem like a rather silly movie to those just jumping in fresh on this. Ridley does deliver a solid performance here with the main focus being perhaps too steady on what she’s seeing.

It’s as if you’re jumping into the source material and dipping around the intense action to follow someone descending into the chaos of it. You get to hear the exciting news, while being hidden around the outskirts. I’d compare it to reading something in the paper about what’s happening all around you, and not really being directly involved.

Ophelia Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening Provided by Katrina Wan PR

Rating Overall: 6.0