Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss are on fire in 'Hedda'

Hedda Gabler, one of the theatre's great schemers, is transported to 1950s England in Nia DaCosta’s deliriously fun, intelligent and impassioned spin on the classic Henrik Ibsen drama.

- 

One needn't know anything about Ibsen's 1890 play to enjoy “Hedda.” Like “Clueless” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary” before it, “Hedda,” in theatres on Friday, is a film that works entirely on its own terms. It might even inspire some curiosity about its source material.

Vibrant and lush with a fiery engine under its hood, “Hedda” unfolds over the course of an increasingly debaucherous party hosted by Hedda ( Tessa Thompson ) and her prim academic husband, George Tesman (Tom Bateman), at their opulent country estate. Lives are destroyed, guns are pulled, promotions are promised, hearts are broken and behind it all is Hedda pulling the strings with deliberate, gleeful menace.