TIFF 2025: Hedda
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A couple of weeks ago I was having a discussion with my roommate about the roles Black people get to play. While he vouched for us needing more heroes, I said that we haven’t gotten to reach our full evil potential. Getting to be as messy and conniving and cruel as possible without needing a full investigation on if it’s ruining our community would show some significant. Well, we’re not all the way there yet with Hedda, but it is fun to watch a Black actress playing terrible person with aplomb.
The movie is the newest adaptation of the famous Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabbler. Written and directed by Nia DaCosta, the movie’s setting is updated to mid-century England and in the aftermath of some sort of terrible moment that requires police investigation. We then flashback and discover what exactly transpired. Hedda has convinced her husband to spend money they don’t have on a lavish house party in order to impress and gain him a key academic post. The guests range from frivolous to important, none more so than Eileen, a rival for the position and someone with whom Hedda shares a twisted history. Once the party is in full swing, Hedda’s machinations begin and everyone becomes a pawn in an unwitting game.
There’s much to chew on in this adaptation but first and foremost, we must spend some time on Tessa Thompson, an actress taking on one of the most iconic roles in the canon. I described her on Twitter as a scheming bisexual who plays mind games and ruin’s people’s live for fun while wearing a nice dress and I truly would have loved another 20 minutes of watching her play against her fellow actors. It’s a gift to be able to play a character that everyone seems to know intimately yet they can never pin her down and Thompson relishes in the messiness. From the subtle glances to feigned devastation, she’s really making a meal out of the part.
As the main targets trapped in her arena, Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, and especially Nina Hoss, are game to be foils, obstacles, and victims of Hedda’s games. Hoss is the MVP of this cohort as the former lover of Hedda, for whom turning a new leaf may be the key to survival. Loved nearly every moment she was on screen and it’s a humdinger of a performance.
It is good that all the actors are as game as they are because they do have to fill in some of the gaps left by the changes Nia DaCosta made in this adaptation. Updating the setting allows her to comment not just on gender, but sexuality and race, in a way Ibsen’s play does not. This leads to some fascinating moments such as Eileen’s discussion with her peers after a dip in the pool or the little asides with Judge Brack. It’s in those moments DaCosta and DP Sean Bobbitt use their powers of observation and visual panache to really make the story sing. However, DaCosta’s script does lose some of the bite due to the change of the time and moving some pieces around. There is a bit lost in translation, especially as it comes to the shocking bits near the end, and a movie that was so carefully rendered can’t quite hold up. Using a gasping horror voice in the background (I can’t think of a better way to explain it, it will make sense when you see the film) also tries to go to war with the movie. DaCosta is a talented enough filmmaker to rise above this, especially with such a delightful ensemble, but Hedda may find itself a bit challenged once in the hands of general audiences.
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