Hedda is Nia DaCosta’s take on the play Hedda Gabler written by Henrik Ibsen. She wrote the screenplay with several changes from the original. Although the character Hedda remained a scheming manipulator, her race was changed to a woman of color (Tessa Thompson). Hedda’s former lover, Eileen Lovborg (Nina Hoss), gender switched to be a woman. The ending was changed slightly as well.

The changes to Hedda were actually what drew me to the film. A woman director and three women main characters – Hedda Gabler, Eileen Lovborg, and Thea (Imogen Poots) – were welcome changes.

Before I get to the plot, I need to take a minute to complain. The film was dark, as in inadequately lit. Scenes were so dark it was hard to tell what was happening. The opening credits showed as tiny red text on a black background, which is almost impossible to see. The names of actors, directors and other people were in a cursive font. At my age, I’m an expert on cursive, but this font was equally unreadable. As a person who thinks everything should be accessible, these decisions made the film inaccessible in major ways.

That aside, the film is a timeworn story about an unhappy woman who will do anything to get what she wants in a patriarchal world. Tessa Thompson plays Hedda as seductive, manipulative, and not above horrible acts if it gets her what she desires.

Newlywed Hedda and her husband George Tesman (Tom Bateman) returned from their honeymoon. They rented a large house they couldn’t afford and threw a big, drunken party for George’s university friends in order to secure his new position at the university. One of their guests was Judge Brack (Nicholas Pinnock). He helped them finance Hedda’s extravagant plans and felt he was entitled to take what he wanted from Hedda as a result. For most of the film, Nicholas Pinnock was just a dark blur on the screen because of the lighting choices.

Eileen Lovborg, a former lover of Hedda’s, showed up at the party. Eileen had thrown away a lot of career chances due to drinking and debauchery. Thea had come along, sobered her up, and helped her write a new book. Eileen brought the manuscript to the party with her in hopes of showing it to the university folks and getting the job George wanted.

Remember, this takes place in the past before Eileen would have had back up copies of her manuscript on her hard drive or somewhere like Dropbox.

Thea meant to protect Eileen. She was determined to keep Eileen sober and on course. Thea was Eileen’s current lover and co-writer. Protecting Eileen was a form of self-protection. Hedda, however, was determined to make sure Eileen didn’t get to show her manuscript to anyone and that she got very drunk. Hedda manipulated her into taking a drink.

The party became a drunken bacchanal. A jealous husband brought out a gun, and Hedda got her father’s (a former general) gun and used it in strategic ways.

Nia DaCosta modernized the story, set it in the 1950s. But it is still a tale from long before the days when a woman set her own career path based on her own merit. The story is about how a woman gets what she wants by manipulation, duplicity, and stunning sexuality. I’m a fan of Tessa Thompson. I confess she succeeded in making me not like her character. That’s great acting. Thompson’s Hedda was morally compromised and concerned only with her own desires.

The film is on Prime. Prime is also promoting a 1981 version of Hedda Gabler with Diana Rigg in the lead role. I count 24 film versions of this story, and heaven knows how many stage productions – probably thousands. This one is the first to use queer characters, as far as I know. Bonus points to Nia DaCosta for that.

Have you seen it? What did you think?