There are loads of William Shakespeare adaptations out there, so the trick becomes figuring out a way to do it that is timely, relevant, and just plain different from others. Such is the case with Aneil Karia’s Hamlet, which stars Riz Ahmed as a vengeance-seeking prince in London’s elite South Asian community.
Here’s the synopsis: Shakespeare’s most enduring tragedy is reimagined in a bold, modern adaptation set within London’s elite South Asian community. When Hamlet (Riz Ahmed) returns for his father’s funeral, he is stunned to discover his uncle Claudius is marrying his newly widowed mother. Visited by his father’s ghost, Hamlet learns his brutal murder was at the hands of Claudius – and spirals into a quest for vengeance that exposes the rot at the heart of the family’s empire and threatens his own sanity.
Also in the cast are Morfydd Clark, Joe Alwyn, Sheeba Chaddha, Avijit Dutt, Art Malik, and Timothy Spall. Michael Lesslie, known for adapting Shakespeare’s Macbeth for director Justin Kurzel, wrote the screenplay.
Ahmed has been making bolder and bolder choices since his Oscar nomination for Sound of Metal. It’s safe to say that he wouldn’t agree to starring in Hamlet unless it managed to keep the core of Shakespeare’s tragedy, the Prince’s internal conflict and psychological unraveling, while fitting in a modern context.
Hamlet hits theaters on April 10th from Vertical.
