Movie · 2025 · Drama, Thriller, Romance · 1h 47m · R · English
Curator score: 4.2/10 (47.6K ratings)
A little chaos is good for the gathering.
Overview
Hedda Gabler finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life. Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.2/10
IMDb: 5.8/10
Letterboxd: 3.31/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
Metacritic: 70
TMDB: 5.6/10
Director
Nia DaCosta
Production
Plan B Entertainment, Viva Maude, Orion Pictures
Cast
Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss, Imogen Poots, Nicholas Pinnock, Tom Bateman, Finbar Lynch, Mirren Mack, Jamael Westman, Saffron Hocking, Kathryn Hunter, Michelle Crane, Sam Hoare, Stacey Gough, Mark Oosterveen, Jack Barry, Sonya Orlov, Nicholas Bishop, Milly Paris, Jack Sherlock, Mark de Freitas
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, stylish, and emotionally volatile chamber drama that leans into seduction, cruelty, and power games. The appeal here is less fidelity to Ibsen than the pleasure of watching a charismatic antiheroine weaponize every room she enters, backed by strong performances and confident visual control.
Best for
Viewers who like prestige drama with a poisonous edge
Fans of psychologically charged one-night narratives
People drawn to morally messy women and antihero protagonists
Audiences who enjoy theatrical adaptations with modern energy
Viewers interested in class tension, desire, and manipulation
Skip if
You want sympathetic characters or clean emotional catharsis
You dislike stagey, dialogue-driven dramas
You prefer straightforward romance over betrayal and power games
You need a plot that stays grounded in realism rather than heightened melodrama
Overview
Hedda turns Ibsen’s pressure-cooker into a sleek, contemporary-feeling trap, and the result is often exhilarating. Nia DaCosta stages the material with real confidence, letting the film breathe in glances, silences, and the kind of social friction that makes every conversation feel like a dare. It’s a movie about control, but also about the thrill of watching control fail spectacularly.
Worth noting
What stands out most is how willingly it lets Hedda be difficult, selfish, magnetic, and destructive without sanding her down into a more palatable figure. That choice gives the film bite. Tessa Thompson anchors the chaos with a performance that feels both precise and volatile, while Nina Hoss and Imogen Poots sharpen the ensemble’s emotional stakes.
Bottom line
The film may not satisfy viewers looking for a tidy psychological explanation or a more conventional romantic tragedy. But if you’re open to a lush, suffocating chamber piece about desire, class, and self-sabotage, it lands with real force. It’s the kind of adaptation that understands the fun of watching a beautiful room slowly catch fire.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cob (4★) · 2917 likes
everybody gangsta til a bisexual master manipulator throws a house party
kyle (3.5★) · 2520 likes
i only threw this party 4 u
hugeasmammoth (4★) · 1357 likes
I just know the servers’ group chat was popping off the next day.
Iman Vellani (4.5★) · 1215 likes
NIA DACOSTA I’M FOREVER IN AWE OF YOU <3
allain♡ · 1164 likes
exactly how i’d imagine a dinner party hosted by a messy lesbian would be