# Hedda (2025 film)
**Hedda** is a 2025 American drama film written, directed, and co-produced by [Nia DaCosta](https://www.edgepedia.org/nia-dacosta), adapting [Henrik Ibsen](https://www.edgepedia.org/henrik-ibsen)'s 1890 play *Hedda Gabler* and relocating it from 19th-century Norway to 1950s England. [Tessa Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tessa-thompson) stars as the newly married Hedda Gabler, who, over the course of a single party at her country estate, maneuvers against her former lover, her husband's professional rival, and her guests with escalating consequences.[1](https://apnews.com/article/064436a51f632863cea05c56771bbb3a) • [2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Nia DaCosta, her follow-up to *The Marvels* (2023)[1](https://apnews.com/article/064436a51f632863cea05c56771bbb3a) |
| Source and setting | Ibsen's play *Hedda Gabler* (1890), moved from Kristiania (now Oslo) to a 1950s English country estate[3](https://time.com/7328709/hedda-movie-inspiration-ending-ibsen/) |
| Lead cast | Tessa Thompson as Hedda Gabler, Nina Hoss as Eileen Lovborg, Imogen Poots as Thea Clifton, Tom Bateman as George Tesman, Nicholas Pinnock as Judge Roland Brack[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025/cast-and-crew) |
| Release | World premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7–8, 2025; US theaters October 22, 2025; Prime Video October 29, 2025[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27953589/releaseinfo/) |
| Runtime and rating | 107 minutes 10 seconds; rated R in the US and 15A in Ireland[7](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/hedda-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzmjq0) • [8](https://www.ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/261C9E7D003AE745) |
| Critical scores | 90% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes (156 reviews); Metascore 70 on Metacritic from 34 reviews[9](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025) • [10](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/hedda/critic-reviews/) |
| Music and cinematography | Original score by Hildur Guðnadóttir; cinematography by Sean Bobbitt[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025/cast-and-crew) |
## Spoilers
### Story and adaptation
The film unfolds at the estate that Hedda shares with George Tesman (Tom Bateman), a cash-strapped academic whose purchase was funded by Judge Roland Brack ([Nicholas Pinnock](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicholas-pinnock)), a domineering friend of Hedda's late father. George expects a professorship to pay for the house, but his rival for the post arrives at the party: Eileen Lovborg ([Nina Hoss](https://www.edgepedia.org/nina-hoss)), a writer newly recovered from alcoholism and a former lover of Hedda's, accompanied by Thea Clifton ([Imogen Poots](https://www.edgepedia.org/imogen-poots)), who has left her husband to become Eileen's lover and writing collaborator. Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch), who will decide the appointment, is also a guest, and the evening becomes a contest over a manuscript of Eileen's forthcoming book.[2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review) • [3](https://time.com/7328709/hedda-movie-inspiration-ending-ibsen/)
DaCosta made several structural departures from the play. She condensed Ibsen's four-act action into a single evening divided into five chapter title cards, and she opens the film with a framing scene of Hedda being questioned by the police about a fatal gunshot before flashing back to the party itself.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025) • [2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review)
**Gender and identity changes.** The character of Eilert Lövborg, a man in the play, becomes Eileen Lovborg, a woman, played by Nina Hoss, which turns the story's central rivalry into a queer love triangle among Hedda, Eileen, and Thea. Hedda is also written and cast as a Black woman, and the film makes her race a factor in her social standing, as it is for the Black judge Brack. DaCosta said the widening gave the story three women exploring different paths to female agency.[1](https://apnews.com/article/064436a51f632863cea05c56771bbb3a) • [2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review) The film also alters the ending of the play; reviewers noted that the revised finale avoids a sapphic tragedy stereotype that the adaptation might otherwise have reproduced.[11](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/new-prime-video-movie-hedda-is-much-more-than-just-this-years-saltburn-its-cool-calculated-and-serious-fun)
## Production
DaCosta developed the project as a long-held goal and shot it largely at a single location. According to a November 2023 report, she left the post-production of her [Marvel Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-studios) film *The Marvels* to move to London for pre-production on *Hedda*, with Marvel finishing that film without her.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27953589/) The film was financed and released by [Amazon MGM Studios](https://www.edgepedia.org/amazon-mgm-studios), with [Plan B Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/plan-b-entertainment)'s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner among the producers and Brad Pitt among the executive producers.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025/cast-and-crew)
**Location and design.** Production designer Cara Brower, working with DaCosta for the third time, scouted more than 200 properties before settling on Flintham, an estate about 45 minutes outside London, chosen for a grand staircase, a lake view, a balcony, and period kitchens and bathrooms. Because Flintham lacked a period kitchen and bathroom, the team built a period bathroom over the house's modern kitchen, cladding existing cabinetry and adding a prop Victorian range. DaCosta's desire to shoot as much of the film as possible at one location drove the search.[13](https://www.homesandgardens.com/celebrity-style/hedda-production-designer-interview) The setting shift from late-1800s Norway to 1950s England was DaCosta's decision, and the film makes use of the estate's grounds, including a hedge maze, a lawn, a lake, and a formal garden.[13](https://www.homesandgardens.com/celebrity-style/hedda-production-designer-interview) • [2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review)
Composer [Hildur Guðnadóttir](https://www.edgepedia.org/hildur-gu-nadottir), an Academy Award winner for her *Joker* score, wrote the music; some critics found it heavy-handed, while Time Out noted its insistent cues as part of DaCosta's horror-story treatment of constrained women's lives.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025/cast-and-crew) • [5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025) • [14](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hedda-review-2025)
## Release and reception
*Hedda* premiered at the 2025 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) and played festivals including the [BFI London Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/bfi-london-film-festival) and the Hamptons International Film Festival before a brief theatrical release on October 22, 2025, and streaming on Prime Video a week later.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025) • [15](https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=hedda-lff25)
**Critical response.** The film holds a 90% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, whose critics consensus centers on Thompson's performance, and a Metascore of 70 on Metacritic.[9](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025) • [10](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/hedda/critic-reviews/) Richard Brody of *The New Yorker* called it a formidable cinematic experience independent of its source and praised Thompson's precision and sincerity.[2](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review) The Associated Press review described a film that works on its own terms, with Thompson and Hoss at the center of its power dynamics.[16](https://apnews.com/article/39f35c5ee94f4393d6fbac12e95a2dcc) [Criticism](https://www.edgepedia.org/criticism) focused on execution details: the RogerEbert.com review faulted the early reveal of the ending, the score, and the party-sequence lighting, while Time Out gave three of five stars and found the story shrinking next to Hoss's performance.[5](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025) • [14](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hedda-review-2025) Thompson's clipped British accent drew divided comment.[11](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/new-prime-video-movie-hedda-is-much-more-than-just-this-years-saltburn-its-cool-calculated-and-serious-fun)
## References
1. [A bold, queer 'Hedda,' from Nia DaCosta and Tessa Thompson, debuts at TIFF, Associated Press (September 7, 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/064436a51f632863cea05c56771bbb3a)
2. [Nia DaCosta's "Hedda" Shoots Straight, The New Yorker (October 17, 2025)](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/10/27/hedda-movie-review)
3. [How Hedda Updates a 19th Century Masterpiece, TIME (October 29, 2025)](https://time.com/7328709/hedda-movie-inspiration-ending-ibsen/)
4. [Hedda: Full Cast & Crew 2025, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025/cast-and-crew)
5. [Hedda movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com (TIFF, 2025)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hedda-tessa-thompson-tiff-film-review-2025)
6. [Hedda (2025) – Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27953589/releaseinfo/)
7. [Hedda, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/hedda-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzmjq0)
8. [Hedda (2025), Irish Film Classification Office](https://www.ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/261C9E7D003AE745)
9. [Hedda (2025), Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/hedda_2025)
10. [Hedda critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/hedda/critic-reviews/)
11. [New Prime Video movie Hedda review, TechRadar (October 29, 2025)](https://www.techradar.com/streaming/amazon-prime-video/new-prime-video-movie-hedda-is-much-more-than-just-this-years-saltburn-its-cool-calculated-and-serious-fun)
12. [Hedda (2025), IMDb trivia](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27953589/)
13. [Production Designer Cara Brower on Scouting Hundreds of Houses for Hedda, Immersive Media (November 27, 2025)](https://www.homesandgardens.com/celebrity-style/hedda-production-designer-interview)
14. [Hedda review, Time Out (October 23, 2025)](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hedda-review-2025)
15. [Buy tickets for Hedda, BFI London Film Festival 2025](https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam%3A%3AWScontent%3A%3AloadArticle%3A%3Apermalink=hedda-lff25)
16. [Movie Review: Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss are on fire in Nia DaCosta's Hedda, Associated Press (October 20, 2025)](https://apnews.com/article/39f35c5ee94f4393d6fbac12e95a2dcc)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2025 › Historical and period drama films*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license