Some stories are not just romance or drama. They are psychological mazes where people get lost between what they want and how they are seen. Hedda is that kind of movie. Nia DaCosta takes Ibsen’s classic Hedda Gabler and reimagines it in a bold, modern way. The film mixes love, jealousy, power, career pressure, and self-destruction into a sharp, emotional experience.
Synopsis
Hedda Gabler seems to have a beautiful life on the surface. She is married to George Tesman, an academic who is struggling with money and status, while Hedda quietly fights her own emptiness and ambition. During a party, Hedda invites a figure from her past, Eileen Lovborg. Old feelings return, and so do games of control. As the night unfolds, secrets, manipulation, and rivalry grow. Hedda steals Eileen’s manuscript and hides it. Later, she gives Eileen a gun and pushes her to make a final choice. Eileen takes her own life. In the end, Hedda’s own spiral reaches a point of no return, and she also dies, turning the story into a full tragedy.
Trailer
First impressions
From the first scenes, I could feel the tension under the pretty life. Hedda is married, but the marriage lacks warmth. George works, worries about money, and tries to keep up, while Hedda cannot accept a small, simple life. The party sequence brings everything to a boil. Hedda calls Eileen, who is part of her past and, in this version, is gender-swapped from Ibsen’s Eilert. Their chemistry carries desire, rivalry, and unfinished business. In one long night, smiles turn into tests, and polite talk becomes a battlefield.
Hedda wants freedom, yet she also wants control. That conflict sits in her eyes. She admires Eileen, competes with her, and still tries to direct her future. The more Hedda tries to hold everything in her hands, the closer she moves to breaking herself. The party turns into a pressure cooker, and by morning the damage is done.
What worked for me ✅
- Tessa Thompson as Hedda: She is excellent. There is a dangerous freshness in her face, a hard desire in her eyes, and a restless energy that pulls you in. This Hedda is not only “a tricky woman.” She is a person who wants her own freedom, even if her methods can hurt everyone around her.
- DaCosta’s twist with Eileen Lovborg: Turning Eilert into Eileen gives Hedda and Lovborg a more layered bond. Desire, power, and friendship all sit together, and the dynamic becomes more intense and modern.
- Visual design and mood: The mansion, the dance floor, the party rooms, and the outfits all look rich and stylish, yet the spaces feel tight and suffocating. The camera glides and circles in ways that keep a quiet tension alive. It feels like a glamorous box you cannot escape.
- Slow, steady build: The film does not rush. It slowly stacks small moves, small lies, and small risks until the emotions tip over. Hedda challenges people, pushes them, and plays with limits. That steady rise in tension worked for me.
- Fearless direction: Nia DaCosta respects the original tragedy and still brings her own voice. Themes of feminism, queerness, and emotional rebellion sit inside the classic frame without feeling like a lecture.
What did not work for me ❌
- Party sequence runs long: At times the party feels stretched. Some beats repeat, so the flow turns uneven, and a few moments lose power.
- Accent clarity and dialogue feel: A few lines are hard to catch, and the accent choices sometimes pull attention away from the emotion in the scene.
- Score that over-signals: In a few scenes the music pushes emotional cues too hard. When Hedda makes a manipulative move, the score sometimes presses the moment a bit too strongly, which can feel unnatural.
- Thin support for some characters: George Tesman and Judge Brack do not always get deep motives or full backstories on screen, so their influence can feel lighter than it should.
- A softer landing than expected: The ending is dramatic, but not explosive. The final stretch delivers emotion and betrayal, yet the last jolt is milder than I expected for a story with this much pressure.
My opinion
Watching Hedda, I felt two worlds at once. One is full of beauty and glamour. The other is dark and hungry. Every choice Hedda makes draws the map of her life, and every line she speaks is like a small bomb. Tessa Thompson holds the center with charm and calculation. She is not simply “bad” or “good.” She is sharp, restless, and honest about wanting more than the life in front of her.
Nina Hoss as Eileen Lovborg brings a real spark. She challenges Hedda and reflects her. When they talk, you can see both Hedda’s desire and her fear. In one key conversation, Hedda shows her weakness and her power at the same time. That mirror effect is the heart of the movie.
The party sequence did feel heavy for me. Some camera angles, lighting choices, and cuts drew attention to themselves. Still, when people mingle, whisper, and watch each other from across the room, the tension feels real. Under the music and small talk, everyone is choosing sides.
The final act hit me in a quiet way. Hedda pushes and pushes, and then everything that felt like a game stops being a game. Eileen’s fate is hard to watch. Hedda’s end is the last step in a path she built herself. The film left me thinking about how control can become a cage, and how desire without care destroys the things it touches.
Final verdict
Hedda (2025) is daring and emotional. It gives Ibsen’s classic a bold new shape while keeping the tragedy alive. If you like character drama, manipulation, gender and desire in complex relationships, and a modern take on a famous play, this will be a strong experience.
If you want a clear, straightforward plot with action and big physical conflict, this will feel slow. Hedda is more of a mind game than a fight. It asks you to sit with a difficult woman who wants freedom and pays the price for how she tries to get it.
My rating would be 3.8 out of 5. Hedda is powerful and flawed. Her world looks beautiful, but it carries fear inside it, and that is exactly why it stays in your head after the credits.
Posted using CineTV