Riz Ahmed is Transformative in Reimagined Hamlet

From the moment Hamlet returns home and cleanses his father’s body as a Hindu Priest incants the Bhagavad Gita to watching the remains go up in flames, it’s clear this version of Hamlet is not the one you have seen in millions of high schools, on the West End or even on Broadway. In this contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet set in a wealthy British South Asian family and upon his return, Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) is stunned to learn his uncle Claudius (Art Malik) will now marry his widowed mother. Stunned, he confides in his childhood friend Ophelia (Morfydd Clark), aghast at his mother’s (Sheeba Chaddha) betrayal. Ophelia’s brother and Polonius’ son Laertes interrupts them however and drags Hamlet into London to party.  When his father’s ghost pleads with Hamlet to avenge him, for he did not die naturally but was murdered by Claudius, Hamlet’s Uncle. Hamlet becomes consumed by revenge, questioning the corruption at the heart of the family’s business, and his own sanity.

Directed by Aneil Karia, who previously collaborated on the Oscar winning fiction short “The Long Goodbye” with Riz Ahmed delivers a reimagined classic that is eerily in tune with the complexities of the 21^st century issues of jailing homeless, how corporate greed and commerce makes better beauty than honesty and how grief hits from all angles driving one into madness. A contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ set in a wealthy British Indian family. Hamlet returns home for his father’s funeral and is shocked to learn that his uncle Claudius will now marry his widowed mother. When his father’s ghost reveals that Claudius murdered him, Hamlet becomes consumed by revenge, questioning the corruption at the heart of the family’s business, and his own sanity.

With an immensely gifted cast led by Riz Ahmed, audiences will be riveted and stressed out simultaneously in the best way possible. Ahmed’s interpretation is beyond powerful. His re-imagination of the “…to be or not to be” monologue while driving at Formula One speeds with hands off the wheel on heightens the intensity of already alarming set of circumstances. His black pool eyes engulfed with endless emotion will keep you locked and loaded. Whether he is telling Ophelia how two-faced she is or doing a dance of death in protest of his Uncle and mother, his performance is the stuff awards are created for.

Chaddha is captivating and enchanting as a mother who exudes no boundaries when it comes to the love of a child. Art Malik and Timothy Spall are exciting and enthralling to watch as unpack characters of such complexities with care and precision.

The music and costumes are their own characters that keep the narrative moving.  From the time Hamlet goes from pristine white to complete filth or a score that goes from building tension in one moment to sustaining that same tension with a single note is glorious.

Hamlet has been cinematically interpreted three times in 2025, but at the core the message is still the same. Grief is an emotion that can easily drive one mad enough to do or endure the unimaginable.  After all the way life begins and ends is the same for every human being and is inescapable.  We enter and exit alone