# Ophelia (2018 film)
**Ophelia** is a 2018 drama film directed by Claire McCarthy that retells Shakespeare's *Hamlet* from the perspective of Ophelia, adapted by Semi Chellas from [Lisa Klein](https://www.edgepedia.org/lisa-klein)'s novel of the same name. [Daisy Ridley](https://www.edgepedia.org/daisy-ridley) stars as the title character, with [Naomi Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-watts), George MacKay, Clive Owen, and Tom Felton in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and received a limited United States theatrical release in June 2019 through IFC Films.[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia) • [2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Directed by Claire McCarthy; screenplay by Semi Chellas, based on the novel by Lisa Klein[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) |
| Principal cast | Daisy Ridley (Ophelia), Naomi Watts (Gertrude/Mechtild), George MacKay (Hamlet), Clive Owen (Claudius), Tom Felton (Laertes), Devon Terrell (Horatio)[4](https://www.watchmode.com/movie/ophelia) |
| Premiere and release | World premiere at Sundance 2018; IFC Films acquired U.S. rights in February 2019; limited theatrical release June 28, 2019, streaming July 4, 2019[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) |
| Runtime and rating | 1 hour 54 minutes; rated PG-13[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) |
| Box office | $50.7K gross in the United States[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) |
| Critical scores | 57% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (122 reviews) with a 79% audience score; Metascore of 60 on Metacritic[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/) |
| Key crew | Composer Steven Price, cinematographer Denson Baker, editor Luke Dunkley, production designer Dave Warren, costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and adaptation
The film follows Ophelia from childhood: as a rebellious and motherless girl, she is taken into Elsinore Castle by Queen Gertrude as one of her most trusted ladies-in-waiting, captures the affections of [Prince Hamlet](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-hamlet), and navigates the Danish court's intrigue as the kingdom edges toward war and Hamlet unravels after his father's murder.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) The story is set in medieval Denmark but spoken in a sharp, contemporary voice, shifting the perspective of Shakespeare's tragedy to place its young female character at center stage.[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/)
**Departures from the play.** The adaptation is unusual in devising a whole new set of circumstances with which to thicken the play's plot, and the dialogue is prose boiled down from Shakespearean verse rather than the original text.[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia) In this version Ophelia and Hamlet secretly marry, and the ending departs from the tragedy: Ophelia survives, and the film reveals she had Hamlet's child.[6](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/screener-062819/) Naomi Watts plays a second role as Mechtild, a woodland witch in charge of the potions, whom Ophelia engages to procure mood-enhancers for the queen.[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia) • [7](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/ophelia/) The film's visuals explicitly reference [John Everett Millais](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-everett-millais)'s famous painting *[Ophelia](https://www.edgepedia.org/ophelia-painting)*, and the title character explains in voice-over that it is time her story was heard from her own perspective.[8](https://naos-be.zcu.cz/server/api/core/bitstreams/e8231bfa-01cb-41ef-8c66-5e20e4e3a2a9/content) • [9](https://thecriticalcritics.com/reviews/movie-review-ophelia-2018/)
## Production and release
The film was produced by Daniel Bobker, Sarah Curtis, Paul Hanson, Ehren Kruger, and Bert Marcus, with production companies including Covert Media and Bert Marcus Productions.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) Its crew included Academy Award-winning composer Steven Price (*Gravity*), cinematographer Denson Baker, editor Luke Dunkley (*The Crown*), Academy Award-nominated production designer Dave Warren (*Hugo*), costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, and Academy Award-winning hair and make-up designer Alessandro Bertolazzi.[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/)
**Ophelia** made its world premiere at the 2018 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival).[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/) IFC Films acquired U.S. rights in February 2019 and released the film in limited theaters on June 28, 2019, with streaming beginning July 4, 2019.[2](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) A critic reviewing the film for Hammer to Nail described it as a Czech-set production whose costumes and scenery transport the viewer to another time and place.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 57% Tomatometer from 122 reviews, with a critics consensus describing it as "flawed yet intriguing" and crediting it with a noble attempt to offer a misunderstood character long-overdue agency; the audience Popcornmeter score is 79%.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 60, based on 23 critic reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/) On IMDb the film has a weighted rating of 6.5/10 from about 15,000 users.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5690810/ratings/)
**Praise centered on the lead performances.** [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s Todd McCarthy called it a vigorous, colorful melodrama that makes Ophelia a far more proactive figure than Shakespeare did while entirely reimagining her fate.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/) RogerEbert.com's Nell Minow wrote that in this version Ophelia is not the helpless girl driven to madness and likely suicide, but a woman with courage, intelligence, and agency.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/) The Chicago Tribune highlighted Ridley's work opposite Watts, whose characters form a complex connection despite disagreeing over Ophelia's suitability as a match for the crown prince.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/)
**Critics divided over the retelling.** The Guardian's Sundance review called the film a disastrous reimagining whose scenes lack narrative drive.[11](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/23/ophelia-review-daisy-ridley-stranded-in-disastrous-hamlet-reimagining) Empire's Ian Freer judged it an interesting, well-made attempt to reframe the play through a feminist lens that ultimately lacks the boldness to deliver on its idea, while [The Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-times)'s Kevin Maher argued the screenplay flees so far from Shakespeare that the retelling loses its purpose.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018) [The New Yorker](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-new-yorker)'s Anthony Lane observed that the drama becomes less a tragedy than a fairy tale, almost at times a farce, while noting that [Clive Owen](https://www.edgepedia.org/clive-owen), as Claudius, "steals both the crown and the show."[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia) Screen's Sundance review took a middle position, noting that fans of the original text may balk at the changes but that they give Ophelia agency and a more integral role in the story's political and familial conflicts.[12](https://www.screendaily.com/ophelia-sundance-review/5125867.article)
## Context among Hamlet adaptations
The film belongs to a broader tradition of adaptations that enlarge Ophelia's role. A scholarly survey of four popular *Hamlet* films, by [Laurence Olivier](https://www.edgepedia.org/laurence-olivier) (1948), [Franco Zeffirelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/franco-zeffirelli) (1990), [Kenneth Branagh](https://www.edgepedia.org/kenneth-branagh) (1996), and Michael Almereyda (2000), found that their filmmakers each attempted to enhance Ophelia's character in response to audience expectations about the scarcity of female roles.[13](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01956051.2018.1559132) The Atlantic counts *Ophelia* among the loosely based spin-offs surrounding what is perhaps Shakespeare's most adapted play.[14](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025/12/hamnet-movie-shakespeare-hamlet-quotes/685262/) The New Yorker placed McCarthy's film in a line of works approaching *Hamlet* from unfamiliar angles, alongside Tom Stoppard, John Updike, and Ian McEwan.[1](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia)
## References
1. [Ophelia, The New Yorker (Anthony Lane)](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/ophelia)
2. [IFC Films Takes "Ophelia" from Covert Media, AMC Global Media (February 9, 2019)](https://www.amcglobalmedia.com/2019/02/09/ifc-films-takes-ophelia-a-complex-subversive-retelling-of-shakespeares-greatest-drama-from-covert-media/)
3. [Ophelia (2018), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ophelia_2018)
4. [Ophelia (2018), Watchmode](https://www.watchmode.com/movie/ophelia)
5. [Ophelia, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ophelia/)
6. [Screener: Ophelia, Kirkus Reviews (June 28, 2019)](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/screener-062819/)
7. [OPHELIA, Dennis Schwartz Reviews](https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/ophelia/)
8. [Perhaps the Most Radical Reimaginings of Shakespeare for Young Audiences, University of West Bohemia](https://naos-be.zcu.cz/server/api/core/bitstreams/e8231bfa-01cb-41ef-8c66-5e20e4e3a2a9/content)
9. [Movie Review: Ophelia (2018), The Critical Movie Critics](https://thecriticalcritics.com/reviews/movie-review-ophelia-2018/)
10. [Ophelia (2018) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5690810/ratings/)
11. [Ophelia review, The Guardian (January 23, 2018)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/23/ophelia-review-daisy-ridley-stranded-in-disastrous-hamlet-reimagining)
12. ["Ophelia": Sundance Review, Screen Daily (January 23, 2018)](https://www.screendaily.com/ophelia-sundance-review/5125867.article)
13. [Ophelia's Space: Characterizing Shakespeare's Women in Popular Film, Journal of Popular Film and Television](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01956051.2018.1559132)
14. [A Daring New Take on Shakespeare's Most Famous Soliloquy, The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/2025/12/hamnet-movie-shakespeare-hamlet-quotes/685262/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Shakespeare on film*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; 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