Drama movie Hamlet, the father’s murder, with Riz Ahmed and Morfydd Clark

Hamlet, the movie’s plot

Hamlet is the drama movie coming out. In London, Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) is the heir to a real estate empire: when his father’s ghost (Avijit Dutt) appears to him on a rooftop, he reveals he was murdered by his brother Claudius (Art Malik).

Hamlet plunges into a spiral of revenge and madness. Claudius, now a ruthless real estate speculator who has evicted a community of homeless people led by Fortinbras, intends to marry Gertrude (Sheeba Chaddha), Hamlet’s mother.

“My good Hamlet, we mourned your sick father’s death while he was still alive” says Gertrude, in the released trailer. “There is a wrongdoer lurking in the house” says Hamlet after discovering that his uncle is his father’s murderer.

“Woe is me to have seen all that I have seen” screams Ophelia. “It is a common thing, my son. All that lives must die,” concludes Gertrude.

Hamlet, the movie’s cast

Riz Ahmed was nominated for an Oscar in 2021 for his performance in the movie Sound of Metal, and worked on the series The Sandman in the role of The Corinthian: he won the Oscar for the short movie The Long Goodbye (2022) directed by Aneil Karia, the movie’s director.

Morfydd Clark plays Ophelia: the actress acted in the TV series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and in the movie Starve Acre. Joe Alwyn is Laertes, Ophelia’s brother, and has worked on the movie Hamnet and in the TV seriesConversations with Friends.

Hamlet, the movie’s production

The production is by BBC Film, Left Handed Films and Storyteller Films. Filming took place in London in November and December 2023, using the night streets: the “To be or not to be” monologue scene was shot entirely in a car, with Ahmed reciting it at the wheel while driving at breakneck speed the wrong way toward an oncoming truck.

Hamlet, critics’ reviews and the movie’s release date

The movie was presented at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, receiving positive reviews. For TheWrap “it is still the story of an anguished man struggling against death, transplanted into a different world and time, but one that continues to exert a powerful hold on our imagination.”

For Screen Daily “Hamlet adheres to the essential narrative elements to produce a concise and ruthless reinterpretation.” For The Hollywood Reporter “Karia’s attempts to give the play a cinematic imprint work well at times.”

The movie is released in the United States on April 10, 2026.