Hedda (2025): Cast, Plot, Release Date, Review & Where to Watch – Tessa Thompson Reimagines Ibsen’s Iconic Heroine in Nia DaCosta’s Bold Drama

“Just a little chaos.” With those words, a new adaptation of one of theater’s most infamous characters arrives. Directed and written by Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels), Hedda (2025) breathes fresh life into Henrik Ibsen’s classic play Hedda Gabler.

Premiering at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, the film is now set for a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on October 22, 2025, before streaming worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on October 29, 2025.

🎬 The Premise – A Woman Against the World

At the center of DaCosta’s adaptation is Hedda Gabler, portrayed with searing intensity by Tessa Thompson. Hedda is a brilliant but restless woman, trapped within the constraints of society and marriage. She’s as magnetic as she is destructive—using charm, manipulation, and wit to bend those around her, all while battling her own inner demons.

This new retelling promises a modern emotional intensity, balancing Ibsen’s timeless critique of gender roles with DaCosta’s sharp cinematic vision.

🌟 Cast – Powerhouse Performances

The film boasts an ensemble cast that fuses stage gravitas with screen dynamism:

• Tessa Thompson as Hedda Gabler – complex, volatile, unforgettable

• Imogen Poots as Thea Clifton – Hedda’s foil and fragile confidante

• Tom Bateman as George Tesman – Hedda’s earnest but oblivious husband

• Nicholas Pinnock as Judge Roland Brack – the manipulative figure lurking on the edges

• Nina Hoss as Eileen Lovborg – intellectual rival and moral counterweight

• Kathryn Hunter, Finbar Lynch, Mirren Mack, Jamael Westman, and Saffron Hocking round out the cast

Together, they bring a fresh vitality to characters that audiences may know from the stage, but have rarely seen rendered with such cinematic firepower.

🎥 Behind the Camera – Nia DaCosta’s Bold Vision

With cinematography by Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave), editing by Jacob Secher Schulsinger (The Square), and a haunting score by Oscar-winner Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker, Women Talking), Hedda promises a richly textured atmosphere.

DaCosta, who both wrote and directed, reframes the classic tale into something more psychological, urgent, and intimate, tackling the timeless themes of power, desire, and control.

🌍 Festival Circuit and Global Release

• World Premiere: TIFF (September 7, 2025)

• BFI London Film Festival: October 12, 2025 (in competition)

• U.S. Theatrical Release: October 22, 2025

• Global Streaming: October 29, 2025 (Amazon Prime Video)

With its awards-season positioning, Hedda is expected to spark major conversation among critics and audiences alike.

🎭 Themes – The Chaos Within

Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler has always been a play about repression, manipulation, and the quiet violence of social expectations. In DaCosta’s hands, it transforms into a character study of chaos and control, with Hedda pulling everyone into her orbit—even as she destroys herself in the process.

As Hedda says in this adaptation’s chilling teaser: “If I cannot control the world, then I’ll control its ruin.”

📺 Where to Watch Hedda

Audiences will have two ways to experience this bold retelling:

• Select Theaters (U.S.): October 22, 2025

• Amazon Prime Video (Worldwide): October 29, 2025

Perfect for both cinema lovers who want to feel the tension on the big screen, and at-home viewers eager for a gripping drama at the end of October.

✨ Final Thoughts – A New Classic in the Making

With Tessa Thompson commanding the screen and Nia DaCosta bringing a fresh cinematic pulse to a timeless play, Hedda (2025) is set to be one of the year’s most talked-about dramas.

Part period piece, part modern psychological exploration, it’s a film that promises “a little chaos”—and perhaps, just enough to change how a new generation sees Ibsen’s most infamous heroine.