Hamlet Review: Riz Ahmed Will Haunt You With His Performance In This Intense Shakespeare Adaptation

Hamlet – first-look review

Aneil Karia’s Hamlet, starring Riz Ahmed as the doomed prince, is an occasionally beautiful but largely inert exercise. There are shades of Succession in Aneil Karia’s Hamlet: a stylish, uneven adaptation that takes pleasure in entropy and extremity. Set at the estate of a wealthy desi family in present-day London, the film begins by bringing our eponymous prince (Riz Ahmed) face-to-face with his father’s corpse. We see him performing rites, ano…

Hamlet Review: Riz Ahmed Will Haunt You With His Performance In This Intense Shakespeare Adaptation

William Shakespeare adaptations are a dime a dozen, but there aren’t so many that can be called bold and culturally dynamic. Hamlet — the newest adaptation of the famous play starring Riz Ahmed in the title role, and hailing from director Aneil Karia and screenwriter Michael Lesslie — is both. The film is a contemporary retelling of the work, but the dialogue maintains its original Shakespearean language.