'Ophelia' starring Daisy Ridley leaves a lot to be desired

The premise of Claire McCarthy’s new movie, Ophelia, is simple. What if William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was told not through the mopey prince, but his love interest, Ophelia? Perhaps then, she could have a personality instead of a watery tragic end.

That idea might have been interesting if fully realized, which this Ophelia, which premiered this week at the Sundance Film Festival, is not. The movie makes a few intriguing choices but stumbles in terms of craft and writing – neither of which you can really sacrifice when adapting the Bard.

Yet not everything in the state of Denmark was rotten. After a clichéd voiceover, Ophelia’s (Daisy Ridley) story follows her from a humble childhood to living among royalty as a lady-in-waiting to Hamlet’s troubled queen mum, Gertrude (Naomi Watts). These early scenes set up a more promising movie: the setting looks to have a painterly quality, the flowing gowns are a vivid contrast to plain castle rock of their home and the supporting cast is wonderfully diverse. It’s a shame that our Ophelia gets into trouble because of the rich white family in power.

The movie takes great creative liberties with the source material, enough to disappoint most diehard Shakespearean purists. Occasionally, some of the Bard’s original lines make their way into the dialogue and the difference between the new script and classic lines is obvious, as if someone’s accent had changed mid-sentence. But perhaps the movie’s most offensive aspect was the music, which sounded closer to rejected songs from a YA movie adaptation.

Clearly, Daisy Ridley was cast to channel her headstrong Star Wars character, Rey, into this classic literary figure. As Ophelia, Ridley is defiant, smart and resourceful, but her performance is wildly uneven as she flits between the emotional extremes more than her forgettable Hamlet, George MacKay. As a nice millennial touch, this Ophelia also seems to have a fondness for growing indoor plants, the amount of which I’ve never seen inside a European castle.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Ophelia’s pseudo-pop feminist makeover isn’t successful, since so much of her story still depends on a man. Gertrude’s youth-obsessed storyline is similarly weak, as well as a witch’s backstory at the hands of her manipulative lover. All this extra plot to prove men are terrible? The only two other men who have sizableth speaking parts are Claudius (Clive Owen, phoning in his Jeremy Irons impression) and Laertes (Tom Felton), the latter of which barely occupies the role of Ophelia’s brother between long absences from the story.

To be, or not to be empowered? That is the question this insecure movie attempts to answer. Over the years, Ophelia has come to symbolize love’s maddening power, but this Ophelia doesn’t quite shy away from that narrative. Instead, the film tries to refashion it as a moment of empowerment not victimhood. It’s not unlike the Kristen Stewart movie, Snow White and the Huntsman. These former damsels are given agency to change their stories, but the result is a lukewarm fanfiction tale with different costumes. There is much to be desired underneath the pretty surface.