Nia DaCosta’s Hedda is a reimagining of Ibsen’s play Hedda Gabler. Ibsen’s play examines the fate of a 19th century woman; cerebrally capable but driven stir-crazy due to her milquetoast life. DaCosta adds layers to Hedda by making her black and queer, shaping her situation to feel even more hopeless. She’s forced to masquerade as Hedda Tesman, married to a man who sees her as a prize mare to be controlled.
Hedda (Tessa Thompson) and her husband George (Tom Bateman) are throwing a fabulous party, in a house they cannot afford, all for the purpose of George impressing his peers and securing a professorship. Nothing escapes the perfectionist eye of Hedda, though as we watch a carpet cover a stain on the floor, it does feel symbolic: all this perfection is merely for show, to cover the cracks beneath. Bateman does well in telegraphing George’s controlling personality, as every interaction between the pair is marked by tension and his desire to bring Hedda to heel.
Thompson is incredible as Hedda. On the surface she’s all mischievous and impish, bringing chaos in her wake, yet the chaos cannot distract her from her empty life. We get to see this in the quiet moments between the chaos, as Hedda fully submits to the ennui threatening to claim her.
The first act moves slowly and it’s only when Eileen Lovberg (Nina Hoss) shows up that things start to get interesting. Eileen and Hedda are former lovers, and while Eileen’s brilliance allows her to live the life she wants, Hedda feels she couldn’t make the same choices. Now, Eileen’s cleaned herself up, she’s stopped drinking and finally sobered up enough to write her book. It’s her new lover Thea (Imogen Poots) who helped Eileen get on the straight and narrow. Hedda’s jealously is evident in their interactions; Eileen’s living her life free and proud, while Hedda is trapped with a controlling man who cannot see her for who she is. The scenes between Thompson and Hoss are electric and devastating, especially as we see Hedda succumb to her envy, masterminding certain situations to tragic consequences.
Hoss is fantastic as the brilliant Eileen, a woman who cannot fathom a life without her career. She’s aware that she’s not really welcome into the boys’ club, and while she’s not keen on them, she’s forced to perform for their affirmation. They hang on to her every word, yet look at her with derision and scorn. Eileen’s character carries most of the emotional weight in the film, and Hoss more than delivers.
The problem with the film is the inscrutable nature of its titular character. It’s hard to feel for a character so not of this world. Much like the men who desire to possess her, we are only privy to a sliver of who she is, and so much of that is performance. Who is Hedda? I only know what she is not – she is not a wife, not a mother, she is not happy. As she gazes at us, submerged in a body of water with a slight smile on her face, we lament that Hedda’s world never gave us the chance to know her at all.
REVIEW SCORE: 3.5/5
