Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- brooding
- paranoid
- cerebral
- literary film night
- shakespeare study
What critics said
Critics broadly found the adaptation intelligent and darkly compelling, while expressing mixed views of Ethan Hawke's performance and the film's overall effectiveness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Denmark Corporation, a video store, and a film-within-the-film translate the royal court into modern New York business culture.
Hamlet feigns madness to buy time, test Claudius, and obscure his intentions.
Hamlet invites Claudius to watch a film depicting a murder in order to provoke his conscience.
The New York setting replaces the Danish court with a corporate, media-saturated landscape of isolation and suspicion.
Films like Hamlet, and why
Richard III
modernized Shakespeare adaptation with brooding psychological drama and urban corporate intrigue
Othello
contemporary Shakespeare adaptation emphasizing family betrayal, ambition, and stylized urban settings
Looking for Richard
literary tragedy relocated to modern New York with themes of identity, revenge, and alienation
Movie Details
- Director
- Michael Almereyda
- Release Date
- 2000-05-12
- Runtime
- 112 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (145)
Cast
- Ethan Hawke
- Kyle MacLachlan
- Diane Venora
- Liev Schreiber
- Julia Stiles
- Bill Murray
- Karl Geary
- Steve Zahn
- Dechen Thurman
- Paula Malcomson
Common questions
- What is Hamlet about?
- A haunted young heir turns corporate Manhattan into a theater of feigned madness, surveillance, and revenge.
- What is Hamlet like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Hamlet as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Hamlet violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Hamlet as moderate.
- What did critics think of Hamlet?
- Critics broadly found the adaptation intelligent and darkly compelling, while expressing mixed views of Ethan Hawke's performance and the film's overall effectiveness.
- Which films are like Hamlet?
- Films with a similar feel include Richard III, Othello, and Looking for Richard.
- How long is Hamlet?
- Hamlet runs 112 minutes.
