Ophelia (2018 film)

Young Ophelia and Laertes are taken into Elsinore Castle with their father. Before young Prince Hamlet departs to University, Ophelia makes a small interference to his farewell party, which surprises Queen Gertrude (Watts), who later includes Ophelia as one of her ladies-in-waiting.

Several years later, Prince Hamlet (MacKay) returns to the kingdom after finishing his education, while Claudius starts a secret affair with Queen Gertrude. As she is approaching old age with inept sadness, Gertrude sends Ophelia (Ridley) to see a witch named Mechtild (Watts) and hands her a potion to get her youth again and desires two ounces of the witch's tonic. After a heated argument between King Hamlet and Queen Gertrude, the king is murdered. Claudius is elected king by the nobles and weds the Queen. Hamlet bends the knee to Claudius, but is not happy about the sudden turn of events.

At the same time, Ophelia captures the affections of Hamlet, and they start a relationship. Later, Hamlet confesses his love for Ophelia and they secretly marry and have sex. Hamlet vows to avenge his father's death and that they will leave that place. The kingdom is on the brink of war amidst its own political intrigue and betrayal. King Claudius sets Ophelia up as a trap to see if Hamlet loves her. However, prior to this, Ophelia had found poison in Claudius' coat, and she confesses this all to Hamlet while Claudius watches from afar. Ophelia tells Hamlet that they are being watched, so they pretend to have nothing to do with each other. Hamlet acts mad to deceive the onlookers, while quietly instructing Ophelia to escape to a nunnery where she will be safe. Hamlet puts on a play depicting the murder of his father; this enrages King Claudius who demands all the actors be killed. Hamlet draws his sword on the king, and the King declares treason. Ophelia's father is accidentally killed by Hamlet who believed it was his uncle, King Claudius, hiding behind the tapestry in his mother's bedchambers.

King Claudius learns about Hamlet and Ophelia's marriage and confronts her; during which she accuses him of being the one to brand his lover a witch and have her burned at the stake, after she miscarried his only son. The King is enraged and has Ophelia locked in the dungeon. She escapes and acts as if she has turned mad, so the Queen has mercy upon her. The Queen and her soldiers chase Ophelia to the river bank, where she takes a few drops of the witch's poison to appear dead, as the witch had done years before. In her mad performance in front of the court she had instructed Horatio to dig her up once she is buried. He does this and finds her alive. Ophelia flees, with the kingdom thinking she is dead. Ophelia returns to the witch seeking the antidote and reveals she knows it was the witch that helped King Claudius kill King Hamlet. The witch admits she has an undying love for him and cannot deny him what he wants.

The next morning Ophelia wakes in the witch's cabin frightening the Queen, who was after more tonic. Ophelia reveals to the Queen that it was Claudius that accused her sister of being a witch. The Queen never knew the identity of the man her sister loved. The Queen informs Ophelia that her brother Laertes (Felton) has challenged Hamlet to a fight over the death of his father. The Queen helps Ophelia to cut her hair and bind her chest to dress as a boy to enter the castle, since she is believed to be dead. Ophelia sneaks in to speak with Hamlet before he fights Laertes. She walks past Laertes as he receives a poisoned sword from King Claudius. Ophelia tries to convince Hamlet to escape with her to the nunnery but he will not be denied his vengeance. Instead they say their goodbyes before Ophelia escapes in a rowing boat while Hamlet faces Laertes. A lengthy battle ensues, and Hamlet and Laertes are both cut by the poisoned blade and succumb to the witch's poison. The Queen grieves over her son's lifeless body and, out of anger, takes his sword and thrusts it into King Claudius's chest, killing him. Moments later the witch bursts in with enemy soldiers, the kingdom is attacked and many members of the court are killed. As the soldiers swarm the court the Queen takes the rest of the poison and dies as her sister gently holds her body.

Ophelia, pregnant with Hamlet's child, runs into exile. Ophelia finally makes it to the nunnery that Hamlet had told her to escape to. She gives birth and raises her daughter in love and peace. She learns to not attempt vengeance and to carry on with her life. The film ends with Ophelia playing in the open fields with her daughter.

• Daisy Ridley as Ophelia
  • Mia Quiney as Young Ophelia
• Naomi Watts as Gertrude / Mechtild
  • Anna Rust as Young Mechtild
• Clive Owen as Claudius
• George MacKay as Hamlet
  • Jack Cunningham-Nuttall as Young Hamlet
• Tom Felton as Laertes
• Devon Terrell as Horatio
• Dominic Mafham as Polonius
• Daisy Head as Christina

On May 4, 2016, it was announced that Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts would star in the drama film Ophelia based on the character of same name by William Shakespeare, the film would be based on the novel by Lisa Klein which Claire McCarthy would direct based on the script by Semi Chellas.[6] Covert Media would finance the film, while Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger would produce the film along with Sarah Curtis.[6] Bert Marcus is also executive producing the film.[7]

Filming began in April 2017, with a first look image released in May.[8] After three months, principal production wrapped on July 6, 2017. Academy Award winning composer Steven Price signed on to compose the musical score.

It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018.[9] In February 2019, IFC Films acquired the US distribution rights to the film.[10] It was released on theaters at June 28, 2019.[11] Blue Finch Film later acquired the UK distribution rights on August 15, 2019, a month after its US release.[2]

The film received mixed reviews, praising its art direction, production design, direction, and the performances, mostly Ridley and Watts, but criticizing the writing. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 60% based on 112 reviews. The site's critics consensus reads: "Flawed yet intriguing, Ophelia uses Hamlet as the starting point for a noble attempt to offer a misunderstood character long-overdue agency."[12] Metacritic gave it a score of 60 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[13]

Additional reviews cited that the film is "moving, intoxicating, haunting: the most visually pleasurable film so far this year,"[14] and that it's "real entertainment," as "Daisy Ridley does first-rate work in the title role."[15] Other publications also praised Ridley citing that "Daisy Ridley may have been born to play these types of roles because Ophelia is strong and powerful, just like Rey,"[16] and she gives a "beautiful performance."[17] Rotund Reviews states that they "can’t praise this film enough and highly recommends checking it out."[16] Film Frenzy states that the film "offers an imaginative retelling of an acknowledged masterpiece from an alternate POV" and it's "definitely worth seeing and admiring.[18] Flixist also said that the film is "compelling" and "visually striking" while the "score was one of [his] favourite parts of the film: compelling, forceful, unique."[19] RogerEbert.com praised the film, stating that it demonstrates "courage, intelligence, integrity, and agency."[20] The Wrap agrees that it's a "lush, intelligent adaptation."[21]

• Ophelia on IMDb