Sapphic chaos erupts in the first juicy trailer for Hedda.
Directed by Nia DaCosta, the upcoming drama is billed as a “provocative, modern reimagining” of Henrik Ibsen’s 1891 classic, Hedda Gabler.
The title character is played by Emmy nominee Tessa Thompson, known for her role as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – including Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
Thompson has also received acclaim for her performances in Dear White People, Selma (2014), Creed (2015), Annihilation (2018), and Passing (2021).
The film’s official synopsis reads: “Hedda finds herself torn between the lingering ache of a past love and the quiet suffocation of her present life.
“Over the course of one charged night, long-repressed desires and hidden tensions erupt—pulling her and everyone around her into a spiral of manipulation, passion, and betrayal.”
Hedda also stars Imogen Poots as Thea Clifton, Tom Bateman as George Tesman, Nicholas Pinnock as Judge Roland Brack, Nina Hoss as Eileen Lovborg, Finbar Lynch as Professor Greenwood, Mirren Mack as Tabitha Greenwood, Jamael Westman as David, Saffron Hocking as Jane Ji, and Kathryn Hunter as Bertie.
The first trailer leans into the play’s queer undertones, revealing Eileen as Hedda’s former lover, with the plot thickening when Eileen’s current partner, Thea, enters the scene. Like we said: sapphic chaos.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Thompson said she’s long been “fascinated by the work of Ibsen,” particularly how he raises questions about “female personhood and how hemmed in or boxed in we can be by societal expectations.”
DaCosta, who previously worked with Thompson on her debut feature Little Woods (2018), added: “I thought that this character was terrifying, but also how brave to write a character like this, who is—to me, at least—unredeemable and does horrible things, but you’re telling it from her perspective and have huge empathy for her.”
The director shared that she spent hours watching previous stage adaptations of Hedda Gabler at theatre libraries, but wasn’t satisfied with their interpretations of the text: “I liked it, but I thought, This is not as funny or dark or sexy as what I read or what I felt when I was reading it.
“So I was like, Wouldn’t it be cool to do a movie where I make all the subtext text?”
Hedda will release in select cinemas on October 22 and on Amazon Prime on October 29. Watch the trailer below.
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