‘Ophelia’ starring Daisy Ridley leaves a lot to be desired

The premise of Claire McCarthy’s new movie, Ophelia, is simple. What if William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was told not through the mopey prince, but his love interest, Ophelia? Perhaps then, she could have a personality instead of a watery tragic end. 

That idea might have been interesting if fully realized, which this Ophelia, which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival, is not. The movie makes a few intriguing choices but stumbles in terms of craft and writing – neither of which you can really sacrifice when adapting the Bard. 

Yet not everything in the state of Denmark was rotten. After a clichéd voiceover, Ophelia’s (Daisy Ridley) story follows her from a humble childhood to living among royalty as a lady-in-waiting to Hamlet’s troubled queen mum, Gertrude (Naomi Watts). These early scenes set up a more promising movie: the setting looks to have a painterly quality, the flowing gowns are a vivid contrast to plain castle rock of their home and the supporting cast is wonderfully diverse. It’s a shame that our Ophelia gets into trouble because of the rich white family in power.   Read more…

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