Hamlet 2026

Unusually, this was on at my local multiplex.  There is still something rotten in Elsinore, but his time Elsinor is a dodgy property company in London.  This is a new and pretty stark reworking of Hamlet, with Riz Ahmed as the prince, the heir to a modern shady business empire with hints of Succession. Loads of the language is ditched, and many characters and scenes are condensed or thrown out.  This could be bad, and it took me a few minutes to get my bearings, but actually this is really good.   Stripped back, but with gorgeous cinematography, a lot of this is set at night and with fast cars in the city with glamour and seediness next to each other.  Riz Ahmed is a convincing Hamlet, struggling with what is the right thing to do. Polonius (Timothy Spall) is simply nasty in this and Ophelia (Morfydd Clark) is still important but the mad scene is missing, something I am pretty pleased about as I always struggle with it. I really enjoyed the way that the 'To be or not to be' speech was handled, and the reworking of Fortinbras to properly be the nemesis of this version of Elsinore was inspired.  I didn't miss Horatio, Rosencrantz or Guildenstern at all, and the ending was absolutely brilliant whilst true to the original. Recommended!