Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.7/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.66/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Kenneth Branagh
Production
Castle Rock Entertainment
Cast
Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Richard Briers, Nicholas Farrell, Rufus Sewell, Reece Dinsdale, Timothy Spall, Michael Maloney, Robin Williams, Gérard Depardieu, Jack Lemmon, Ian McElhinney, Ray Fearon, Brian Blessed, Billy Crystal, Simon Russell Beale, Don Warrington, Ravil Isyanov
Curator Review
Verdict
A lavish, maximalist Shakespeare adaptation that treats the text as an epic rather than a classroom exercise. It’s long and self-serious, but the scale, production design, and committed performances make it a rewarding watch for viewers who want the full tragic machinery of Hamlet in a grand cinematic package.
Best for
Shakespeare fans who want an unabridged adaptation
Viewers who enjoy ornate period drama and theatrical performance
Fans of prestige costume epics with strong visual design
People curious about a bold, all-in auteur approach to a classic text
Skip if
You want a brisk, streamlined adaptation
You dislike heightened, stage-like acting
You’re impatient with very long runtimes
You prefer modernized or psychologically minimalist Shakespeare
Overview
Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet is the kind of adaptation that announces itself as an event. It goes big on everything: the runtime, the sets, the costumes, the emotions, and the sense that every line of Shakespeare deserves room to breathe. That ambition is part of the appeal. Even when the film feels excessive, it rarely feels timid.
Worth noting
The castle interiors are the real spectacle here, turning Elsinore into a gilded trap of mirrors, corridors, and surveillance. Branagh leans into the melodrama and the political rot, while the ensemble gives the story a stately, often feverish energy. The result is less a stripped-down interpretation than a full-bodied immersion in the play’s tragedy and intrigue.
Bottom line
It won’t be for everyone. The length is punishing if you want a lean narrative, and the performance style can feel deliberately theatrical. But for viewers who appreciate grand classical filmmaking and a director willing to commit completely to the text, this is a fascinating and often impressive version of Hamlet.
Top Letterboxd reviews
ava (2★) · 1530 likes
ugh. at least make Hamlet a moody teen twink like we all imagined he was
Logan Kenny (1★) · 749 likes
astronomically misguided. a self described “purist” of Shakespeare who keeps in every line of Hamlet out of his devotion to the Bard’s craft, fundamentally misunderstands every single thematic idea or character nuance in favour of crafting the tale into his own fantasies of being the martyr. imagine being so obsessed with something that you clearly don’t understand the potential power of. and if Olivier can keep a Hamlet adaptation under 3 hours, then you can as well Branagh. takes 45… more astronomically misguided. a self described “purist” of Shakespeare who keeps in every line of Hamlet out of his devotion to the Bard’s craft, fundamentally misunderstands every single thematic idea or character nuance in favour of crafting the tale into his own fantasies of being the martyr. imagine being so obsessed with something that you clearly don’t understand the potential power of. and if Olivier can keep a Hamlet adaptation under 3 hours, then you can as well Branagh. takes 45… more
•lily• (2★) · 679 likes
Kenneth branagh must be stopped
JJ Jones (4★) · 528 likes
Claudius looks like Guy Fieri.
"Something is rotten in the state of Flavortown."
Madison 🎭 (3★) · 329 likes
1. my teacher: what time period is this?
avi: night time
*all scream*
2.*laertes kisses Ophelia twice*
*we all scream and yell about incest for five minutes*
3. teacher: can we stop talking about napoleons genitalia
5. *shots of hamlet and ophelia fucking*
Mina: that guy had dark hair WAS THAT HER BROTHER SHES SLEEPING WITH HER BROTHER!!
*shot of hamlet straight on*
all of us: oh never mind
6. *ophelia falls to the ground and humps the air*
All of us: WOAHHHHHHH
7. [all scream when robin williams gets stabbed] me: WHO STABBED MY MAN!!
Mina: NOT ROBIN WILLIAMS
1995 · Drama, War · 1h 44m · R · Curator 7.1/10 (28.6K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
A similarly grand, actor-driven Shakespeare adaptation with a bold visual style and political menace.