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Nia DaCosta’s Hedda Hits Prime Video as Reviews Hail Style and Debate Its Reimagining

Critics are zeroing in on DaCosta’s 1950s, queer, mixed‑race reframe that highlights craft over the play’s signature ambiguity.

Overview

  • Tessa Thompson leads the adaptation, which compresses the drama into a single night in post‑war England and is now streaming on Prime Video after a limited Oct. 22 theatrical rollout.
  • Nia DaCosta exercised full creative control as writer, producer, and director, imprinting a distinct authorial vision on the material.
  • The film reimagines Hedda as queer and mixed‑race and gender‑swaps Ibsen’s Eilert Lövborg into Eileen, intensifying social and romantic dynamics.
  • Reviewers praise the production’s polish, citing Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score, Sean Bobbitt’s cinematography, and meticulous period design, with location work at Flintham Hall.
  • Recent critiques argue the adaptation externalizes Hedda’s motives and softens the original’s psychological ambiguity, even as Thompson’s performance draws strong notices.