YMMV / Ophelia

• Adaptation Displacement: While this movie wasn't much of a mainstream hit, it's still better known than the book it was based on; the source material is a somewhat obscure young adult novel that came out over a decade before the movie's release. Many people hadn't heard of the book until the movie was released, nor did some realize it was based on a book at all until the ending credits started to roll, and lots of search results for the book emphasize it's "now a major motion picture". Notably, the film got its own Wikipedia page while the novel is only mentioned briefly on author Lisa Klein's page.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • It's left ambiguous as to whether Claudius is truly in love with Gertrude, or at the very least attracted to her, or if he's mostly interested in her because marrying her puts him in a better position to become king. He does take advantage of her insecurities and loneliness, but it's possible he's also being genuine about how he feels towards her. The revelation that Claudius was once the lover of Gertrude's identical twin sister adds more complexities. Was Gertrude the one Claudius wanted all along and he merely used Mechtild as a substitute, as Gertrude was to marry his brother? This could give him even more of a reason to want his brother out of the way; he got to marry the woman he'd loved for decades and then ended up neglecting her. It could also be part of the reason he dislikes Hamlet, because he's a living reminder that Gertrude was married to another man.
  • When Hamlet refuses Ophelia's request to abandon his quest for vengeance and leave Elsinore with her during the climax, is it purely because he's consumed with getting revenge on Claudius even at the probable cost of his own life? Or is he essentially Choosing Death out of guilt for his own actions, in particular killing Ophelia's father, perhaps feeling he doesn't deserve to live? Another interpretation is that Hamlet thinks it's unlikely he'd be able to slip out of Elsinore unnoticed, so he rejects Ophelia's offer in an attempt to get her to leave without him so she at least will be safe.
  • When Cristiana is preparing Ophelia for her wedding to Edmund she remarks it's a good thing that Ophelia is getting married soon because she's "already as fat as a cow", clearly suggesting she's pregnant out of wedlock. Given the ending strongly implies that Ophelia really is pregnant by Hamlet, has Cristiana accurately guessed this and is rubbing it in her face, or is she just throwing out cruel comments that happen to be correct?
  • At one point, Hamlet Sr. suggests that Claudius could be the product of an affair and therefore illegitimate; Gertrude implies that others have whispered this for years as well. Although the movie never explores this in-depth, it could offer an explanation behind many of Claudius's traits and motives; he's never been certain if he truly is his father's son which in turn may have helped alienate him from his family and drive him to ruthlessness to 'prove his worth'.
  • Did Gertrude's first husband ever love her? Gertrude implies they weren't always as distant as they've become, tearfully stating she has "become invisible to [him]". Given the customs of the time period and their upper class status, it's probable they had an arranged marriage. It could've become a genuinely affectionate marriage at some point, only for them to drift apart years later, possibly triggered by their son growing up and leaving home. In this case, Hamlet Sr. may still love Gertrude but is preoccupied with ruling and may not realize how this affects her, nor understand how to mend their rift. Conversely, it could be that Hamlet Sr. never felt that close to Gertrude, merely doing his duty as her husband, and after their son had left he felt they no longer had anything in common. Consequently, this changes why he reacts the way he does to Gertrude being overly-close to Claudius. Is it just because her having an affair with his brother would bring shame and embarrassment on them all? Or is he also jealous and hurt by the possibility of his wife's infidelity? He also seems particularly disgusted that it's Claudius she's taken an interest in, whom he clearly views with distaste. Claudius apparently has a reputation as a womanizer, so Hamlet Sr. may be concerned his brother is just using Gertrude.
• Angst? What Angst?: A downplayed example. When Hamlet inadvertently kills her father, Ophelia comes across as quite stoic and it's not until she finds out Hamlet is supposedly dead that she has a breakdown. One could argue that she was initially in shock over her dad's death and that learning Hamlet is also gone sends her over the edge; when she later brings up Polonius's death to Gertrude she begins to cry. That said, she never really angsts over the fact Hamlet is the one responsible and doesn't treat him any differently.
• Ass Pull: Ophelia figuring out that Claudius was the one who first accused Mechtild of witchcraft. It's certainly not implausible, but there's little to no evidence either Ophelia or the viewer receives to reach this conclusion (besides Claudius just generally being an asshole who cares mostly for power), so it almost seems to come out of nowhere when Ophelia drops the bombshell in the third act.
• Awesome Art: Even people who didn't much care for the film's story/script have been known to agree it looks beautiful, almost like a Pre-Raphaelite painting come to life. The creators obviously took a lot of inspiration from this art style (particularly as Ophelia was a popular subject for the Pre-Raphaelites and artists influenced by the movement). Highlights include a Creepy Awesome gothic chapel decorated with skulls and a medieval ball taking place in a hall festooned with ribbons and flowers, where all the characters - from the main cast to the extras - are dressed in colorful fairytale-esque costumes.
• Awesome Music: Steven Price's haunting score breathes intrigue, tragedy, romance and danger, which helps evoke the atmosphere the film is going for and could easily suit any Hamlet adaptation.
• Captain Obvious Reveal: Mechtild being Gertrude's twin sister is played up as a minor plot twist, but it barely comes off as one due to them both being played by Naomi Watts; even before Mechtild's face is clearly shown in her first scene you can recognize her voice. In the previous scene, Gertrude had also told Ophelia not look Mechtild in the face and had earlier mentioned having a sister, so it's not hard to put two-and-two together (Ophelia herself figures it out the instant she sees Mechtild). The advertizing for the film didn't help, as it didn't even try to hide that Watts was playing two separate characters, so even before watching the movie many viewers had already guessed this plot point. Luckily, it's revealed quite early in the story and the movie doesn't much dwell on it compared to the less-predictable plot twists.
• Continuity Lock-Out: One thing criticized about the film was that unless the viewer is already very familiar with the story of Hamlet, some of the plot points in the second half of the movie don't make as much sense, or aren't as sufficiently explained (for example, Fortinbras' plan to invade Denmark is only mentioned briefly at the beginning, making it seem his army just popped up out of nowhere in the climax; in the play Fortinbras is mentioned several times throughout and has two scenes with him as a central character).
• Critical Dissonance: The film initially appeared to trade on this, only for it to turn out that a lot of the positive audience reviews left on Rotten Tomatoes were due to astroturfing.
• Crossover Ship: A fairly popular one is shipping Ophelia with Kylo Ren, probably because Rey (also played by Daisy Ridley) has a lot of Foe Romance Subtext with him.^note  Fan videos often include footage of Adam Driver as Toby from The Man Who Killed Don Quixote and/or Jacques le Gris from The Last Duel, because he's dressed up in old-timey clothes and so it fits in with the footage from Ophelia.
• Ending Fatigue: It's often agreed the part where Ophelia disguises herself as a man to meet Hamlet before his duel with Laertes could've been left out. While it does offer some closure to Hamlet and Ophelia's relationship, it doesn't affect the outcome and stretched the Willing Suspension of Disbelief a bit too far: Ophelia's disguise is paper-thin but no one recognizes her, and while Ophelia faking her death was done in a canon-compliant manner, she and Hamlet meeting up after her funeral is a glaring deviation from the play. Ophelia's story had already reached its climax earlier when she feigns madness and drowning, while this sequence can feel like an awkward attempt to shoehorn Ophelia into every scene from Hamlet even though it serves neither the story or characters.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • The ending reveals Ophelia survives and gives birth to her and Hamlet's daughter. We see them living happily together in the countryside somewhere, but we get no other details, providing opportunities to explore what their lives were like and especially what kind of person Hamlet and Ophelia's daughter grows up to be. Then there's how Mechtild potentially fits into the picture, seeing as we don't know what happened to her, she and Ophelia were quite chummy, and they're technically her family (Ophelia is Mechtild's niece-in-law, and her daughter is Mechtild's great-niece).
  • Did Horatio survive and what happened to him afterwards? Was he potentially reunited with Ophelia and her child?
  • Given how the film changes up some of the plot elements of Hamlet, it's led some to speculate on what would happen if Hamlet survived his duel with Laertes. Would he and Ophelia run away together as they originally intended?
• Genius Bonus: The lyrics sung in some of film's tracks ("Doubt thou the stars are fire/Doubt that the sun doth move/Doubt truth to be a liar/But never doubt I love") are actually lines from Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2; they're from a love letter Hamlet had written to Ophelia.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Daisy Ridley plays a spirited young woman from a humble background involved in a complicated relationship with a brooding guy who has Parental Issues, hates his uncle, wears black a lot and has to choose between her and vengeance. Are we talking about Ophelia and Hamlet, or Rey and Kylo Ren? Kylo has even been previously compared to Hamlet (and his appearance is weirdly similar to Asta Nielsen's version of the character).
  • Tom Felton, best known for playing Draco Malfoy, portrays Laertes. It's hard not to smile a bit when one recalls Malfoy sneering "Red hair and a hand-me-down robe. You must be a Weasley!", when in this film his sister Ophelia is depicted as a red-head and is teased for her family's humble background.
  • In this film Clive Owen plays the Big Bad Claudius, while Devon Terrell plays the heroic Horatio. Owen had previously played King Arthur in the 2004 film, while Terrell later went on to play the same role in Cursed. Both have also played American presidents; Terrell played a young Barack Obama in Barry, while Owen later portrayed Bill Clinton in Impeachment.
  • Naomi Watts and George MacKay playing mother and son in this film, considering that Watts previously played Julia, Ned Kelly's love interest in Ned Kelly (2003), while MacKay went on to portray Ned Kelly in True History of the Kelly Gang. Especially considering some Hamlet adaptations do give Gertrude and Hamlet Incest Subtext in their interactions.
• Improved Second Attempt: The film attempts to clarify and expand upon a few plot points from the play that were left vague.
  • Some people who have read/watched Hamlet get confused as to why Hamlet doesn't instantly become king upon his father's death and Claudius gets the throne instead. Ophelia clearly states that Denmark is an Elective Monarchy and that Claudius was elected king over Hamlet (probably because he's older, more charismatic and married to the queen, and Hamlet was away at university when his father died). In real life, Denmark was an elective monarchy up until the 17th century and Hamlet was written between 1599 and 1602 (and set in the Middle Ages), so this was probably the original story's in-universe explanation as well (though it's only briefly referenced).
  • In the play's script, Hamlet's duelling skills can come off as a case of Suddenly Always Knew That, as it's never previously mentioned until the climax. Here, Hamlet is shown early on to be a skilled swordsman - even besting his uncle - and is frequently depicted carrying a blade (although at the same time, Laertes being able to use a sword doesn't come up until the duel).
• Jerkass Woobie: Gertrude. She's a self-absorbed hypocrite and the way she treats Ophelia is contemptible, but it's hard not to feel at least some pity over her marriage problems and self-image issues. She's genuinely distraught when her husband dies and she hastily marries Claudius because she's desperate to be loved, unaware he's manipulating her. When she realizes how badly she's messed things up for herself and her loved ones, she is truly remorseful and ends up committing suicide after losing everything, including her own son.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Some people were mostly interested in the film because they wanted to see Daisy Ridley's take on Ophelia (or just because Ridley was in it even if they weren't too familiar with Shakespeare). Ridley's performance ended up being one of the most frequently praised aspects of the film.
• Moral Event Horizon: In this film, Claudius doesn't cross it when he murders his brother to steal the Danish throne, as it's revealed he already crossed it years before when he spread rumors his 19 year-old lover - who had recently lost their baby - was a witch, with the intention of getting her executed by the townsfolk so he didn't have to take any responsibility for her.
• Narm:
  • One lovey-dovey exchange between Hamlet and Ophelia ain't exactly up to Shakespeare's standards and induced eye-rolling in some viewers:
  Hamlet: "You stop my heart."
  Ophelia: "If your heart stopped, you would die."
  Hamlet: "I seem to be quite alive."
  • The film notably utilizes No Peripheral Vision three times, with Ophelia essentially hiding from someone in plain sight. The first time you could excuse it, especially seeing as it's dark, but three times? And in two of three instances, it's broad daylight and the other person is less than three feet away? You start to wonder if people at Elsinore need their eyes checking.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The film's depiction of the Mousetrap Play is incredibly eerie, with the actors standing behind a lit screen in the darkened great hall, using silhouettes to act out the story. It starts out innocuously enough and several of the courtiers, including Gertrude, are genuinely enjoying themselves, though Hamlet can't take his eyes off Claudius and Ophelia clearly knows something is going down. As the play begins re-enacting the murder of Hamlet's father, everyone becomes a lot more uneasy, culminating in the actors forming a shadowy skull as the screen turns blood red. Claudius flips out, trashing the set, physically throwing the actors around and ordering they be hanged. Hamlet realizes in that moment that Claudius really did murder his dad and declares "vengeance is mine!" in an almost deranged manner, before leaping up and drawing his sword. Only Ophelia screaming for him to stop and throwing herself between them stops Hamlet from running Claudius through there and then.
  • The flashback scene of young Mechtild fleeing for her life from a mob intending to burn her as a witch. She runs through a dark forest lit only by dozens of flaming torches from the people hunting her. As she lies paralyzed and possibly still conscious on some level after drinking a snake venom-infused potion, the mob surrounds her, shouting abuse and prodding her 'corpse', before deciding she's dead and tossing her into the woods. She came within inches of a horrible death, all because she didn't conform to what a 'good' medieval woman should be and had the misfortune to a miscarry a pregnancy.
• No Yay: There's a predatory slant to Claudius's interactions with Ophelia that's all kinds of creepy. For starters, Claudius is decades older than Ophelia (he's in his forties/fifties, she's indicated to be in her late teens) and there's a vast power difference between them, which he never lets her forget. He restrains her and invades her personal space several times; on one occasion he all but reaches down her bodice to pull out Hamlet's ring, which she's wearing around her neck on a ribbon. He has a weird interest in her relationship with Hamlet (for double-creepiness, Hamlet's his nephew), comments on her sexuality and tries to force her into a marriage. Ophelia feels intimidated by Claudius and can do little to stand up to him unless she's literally pretending to be insane.
• Older Than They Think: Ophelia and Hamlet having a full-blown Secret Relationship is far from a new concept; many adaptations imply or depict this, and it's not too much of a stretch to interpret their relationship this way based solely on the original text. The possibility that Ophelia was pregnant with Hamlet's child is also a theory that's been around for years, though it's a less common interpretation.
• One True Pairing: Based upon the all the shipping videos on YouTube dedicated to the pairing and comments posted by viewers, many audience members are fond of this version of Hamlet and Ophelia as a couple; some viewers have even lamented that unlike Ophelia, Hamlet isn't also Spared by the Adaptation to live happily ever after with Ophelia and their child. It probably helps that this film greatly tones down Hamlet's jerkass behaviour towards Ophelia; in the play Hamlet is borderline abusive towards Ophelia and she can come off as a downtrodden Love Martyr, while here their relationship is far more loving (albeit still flawed) and Ophelia is better at sticking up for herself, thus making the pairing more appealing.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: Following A Minor Kidroduction, the film focuses on depicting Ophelia's life at Elsinore, her relationship with her family, Gertrude and the other ladies and her budding romance with Hamlet, as well as Gertrude's marital strife and growing feelings for Claudius. While this helps to set the scene and provides more characterization for Ophelia and Gertrude, it takes around 30-40 minutes until King Hamlet kicks the bucket, which is the cause of the film's central conflict; it then takes even longer for Hamlet to discover his dad might've been murdered and start plotting revenge (for comparison, in the original play the king has already died when the story begins and Hamlet finds out about the alleged murder in the first act).
• So Okay, It's Average: The general critical and audience consensus is that the film's writing is a bit all over the place and it's not nearly as memorable as the source material, while also being visually stunning and offering an intriguing different perspective on Ophelia's character.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Some viewers didn't appreciate the liberties taken with the original play's story, as well as the comparatively Lighter and Softer tone, though in broad terms it ends much the same, the only exception being that the title character is Spared by the Adaptation (which is roughly done in a canon compliant manner).
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Mechtild, a wise and world-weary so-called witch with a Dark and Troubled Past, who has a complicated history with Gertrude and Claudius, acts as a bit of a mentor-figure to Ophelia (whom she bears many similarities to) and is revealed to be quite important to the plot as it was she who supplied Claudius with the poison to kill his brother and she helps Ophelia fake her death. Unfortunately, she doesn't really get much screentime (around eight minutes, total) and her relationships with both Ophelia and particularly Gertrude are underdeveloped (she gets about three scenes with Ophelia and only one scene with Gertrude near the ending). We don't even find out what happened to her after the fall of the royal family.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Many reviewers (both casual and professional) agree that the premise of "Hamlet told from Ophelia's perspective" is a cool idea, but that the film changes so much of the story (including borrowing liberally from a different Shakespeare play) that it doesn't reach its full potential.
  • In the third act, Gertrude mistaking Ophelia for a ghost after she fakes her death sets up an opportunity for them to set up a "Scooby-Doo" Hoax, with Ophelia's 'ghost' publicly revealing the truth about Claudius and possibly saving Hamlet and Laertes (the film's already deviated quite a bit from the original at this point, so why not?). Instead, they just have Ophelia (unconvincingly) disguise herself as a servant boy to sneak into the castle, which ultimately has little effect on the plot.
  • In the play, a major source of angst for Ophelia is that she cannot be certain if Hamlet truly returns her love (exacerbated by the fact that they've possibly slept together; if Hamlet were to cast her aside she'd be seen as Defiled Forever in her society). However, despite this being a golden opportunity to explore in-depth how Ophelia feels about and reacts to this issue, the film tends to gloss over it, focusing mostly on how the external conflict of Hamlet vs Claudius impacts their relationship.
  • Hamlet Sr makes comments suggesting that Claudius might not be his father's son but rather the product of an affair, which is a highly interesting and unique take on Claudius. Unfortunately, the movie does nothing to expand upon this.
  • In the play Hamlet writes intimate love letters to Ophelia, which she's coerced or forced into revealing to her father and Claudius. The film does reference this with the recurring lyrics used in the soundtrack (as mentioned under Genius Bonus, they're taken directly from one of the love letters), but it's a shame we don't actually get to see this play out onscreen here, especially given this retelling places their romance front and centre.
• Uncertain Audience: A bit of a problem for the film is that it doesn't seem to know which demographic to cater to. It's an adaptation of one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, exploring it from another character's perspective, which would appeal to Shakespeare fans. But the film also has a Lighter and Softer tone, simplifies and modernizes the dialogue, takes many liberties with the source material and plays up the romance, which seems to appeal more to the young adult crowd (the book it was based upon is also aimed at young adults). However, some teenagers aren't all that interested in Shakespeare and/or may not be familiar enough with Hamlet to fully understand the plot, while Hamlet fans didn't always appreciate how much the story was changed.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Most of the film's costumes are striking, but there are a few duds...
  • A slight case when Ophelia disguises herself as a servant boy to sneak back into Elsinore Castle. Her disguise really just amounts to her putting on men's clothing and cutting her hair short, making it a bit hard to believe that no one recognized her at all, especially considering how well-known she is at court due to recent events involving her.
  • Clive Owen's wig is very obvious and detracts a bit from Claudius' menacing nature.
• The Woobie:
  • Ophelia, as in the original, if not even more so. Her mother's dead, she gets constant crap from the other ladies-in-waiting because she's of low birth and 'different' and of course, this being medieval Europe, she's frequently subjected to sexism and denied opportunities simply for being a girl. And this is before the Trauma Conga Line she goes through during the second half of the movie, which primarily depicts the events of Hamlet and includes her being blamed for Hamlet's erratic behavior, getting shunned by the court, being targeted by Claudius because he suspects she knows the truth about his brother's death and losing just about everyone she loves. She evolves into an Iron Woobie by the end, as despite all of her losses and trauma she manages to escape Elsinore mostly on her own courage and wits, and is resolved to make the best life she can for herself and her daughter.
  • Mechtild. She was seduced by a noble man who claimed he loved her and would marry her, resulting in her getting pregnant. When her baby was stillborn, Mechtild was accused of being a witch and nearly got burnt at the stake; she only escaped by faking her death and now lives alone in the woods, making a meager living as a healer. Her lover ultimately abandoned her for another woman her own twin sister in fact, whom she had only ever looked out for; she now only seems to contact her when she wants something from her and she never had another relationship or any children. And then Mechtild finally learns that her lover was in fact the one who spread the witchcraft rumors in the first place in the hopes of washing his hands of her and probably never loved her at all, as well as tricking her into helping him poison his brother and seize the throne. She admits she only helped him because she still loved him to an extent, so finding out he never even cared for her in the first place is pretty awful. To top it all off, she watches her sister, the only family she has left and the only person who actually loved her, die in her arms from poison after she helps Fortinbras storm the castle.
  • Hamlet. He loves Ophelia but can't marry her because she's considered too lowborn for him. His father dies unexpectedly and by the time he gets back home, he's not only missed the funeral but his mother has quickly remarried his jerkass uncle, who has also taken the throne he believed he'd be elected to and he's expected to just buck up and deal with it. He suspects his mother was unfaithful to his father and then finds out that Claudius very likely murdered his father, while everyone else just bows and scrapes to him and his mother acts like a Smitten Teenage Girl around him. It doesn't get better for him.

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