In Nia DaCosta’s Sєxy, queer reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, Tessa Thompson stars as the eponymous Hedda, the daughter of a general who married an academic and said goodbye to her partying days. One fateful night brings out the devil in her, as she attempts to wrest control of her fate from the various forces that are backing her into a corner.

For her version of Hedda, DaCosta transports the proceedings to the 1950s and has the events of the story play out over one raucous party that inevitably ends in bloodshed. Though it takes time to get going, once Hedda’s scheming begins in earnest and Nina Hoss’s gender-flipped Eileen Lovborg arrives to the party, DaCosta’s film really comes alive.

Hedda Is A Bold & Beautiful Take On The Source Material

The setup for Hedda remains much the same: Hedda’s new husband, George Tesmand (Tom Bateman), is up for a job at the local university, but Hedda soon discovers that he has compeтιтion. Eileen (Nina Hoss, who nearly steals the show), Hedda’s former lover, is vying for the same spot, but when Thea, Eileen’s new lover, arrives on Hedda’s doorstep after leaving her husband, Thompson’s character sees the perfect opportunity to sow chaos and secure her future.

Hildur Guðnadóttir’s haunting score brings tension to every scene, underlining the Sєxual anxiety lingering in each frame. Stolen kisses in darkened hallways and dimly lit bedrooms, breathy whispers and flirty glances — DaCosta makes sure to emphasize the charged feelings floating through the party, shining a light on how the line between desire and violence often blurs as the evening goes on and the drinks and drugs keep flowing.

Within this debauchery, Hedda weaves her web of chaos, using her guests as puppets to elicit explosive confrontations and embarrᴀssing moments that serve her ultimate goal: get George the job at the university and ensure her financial future. Thompson is deliciously conniving in the role, seductive and ferocious, her anger and hurt boiling under the surface as Hedda must play the good host while her scheme unfolds.

Thompson gets the perfect sparring partner in Hoss, who imbues Eileen with a stunning clarity that is quickly muddled by Hedda’s fierce presence. Eileen arrives a changed woman and though Hedda herself insists she, too, has changed, it angers her to see Eileen so confident in her new relationship. Once they have each other in their sights, everything and everyone else falls away.

The simmering resentment that both women carry — for the world that kept them apart, for each other’s newfound direction — has no regard for Thea or George. Hedda and Eileen are quick to play their own game, their partners just chess pieces. Though these women have been told they have no agency by the world around them, they grab power where they can, both in the manipulations they play on each other and how they treat the people around them in their devious match.

Eileen only realizes too late that Hedda’s game is happening on a completely different level, though everything will eventually catch up to her, too. DaCosta makes some key changes to the ending of this story that slightly undermine its more subversive inclinations, but that doesn’t make the film any less effective. Her confident direction and Sean Bobbitt’s lush cinematography make Hedda an electrifying adaptation that relishes the chaos as much as its characters, even as blood, bullets, and booze continue to fly.

Hedda had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. MGM Studios will release the film in theaters on October 22 before its debut on Prime Video on October 29.