Hamlet 2026: Whenever there’s a new version of this Shakespeare play, we have to ask, will it be as good as Mel Gibson’s 1990 movie?
Well, what doesn’t help is that it’s told in Olde-Worlde language, and I think they should’ve updated it to make it more accessible, but it feels more like it’s in German, where verbs end up at the end of the sentence.
Still, after our titular hero, played by Riz Ahmed (The Phoenician Scheme), attends a funeral for his Dad (Avijit Dutt), the man turns up as a ghost, telling Hamlet that he must get rid of all the bad things that happened during his life. Something like that, anyway. It’s what I grasped.
However, in trying to discover whether Pater had actually been murdered, as the characters drift from scene to scene, the cameraman clearly gets his steps in by walking all over the place, rather than keeping still, which only serves to irritate while Riz shouts at everyone.
Beyond that, the only bit I can remember his his “To Be Or Not To Be” speech, because he delivers it while driving a car at speed… well, ‘drives’ while the low-loader does the work, and CGI provides elements from which for him to swerve.
Oh, and when a couple walked out halfway through. They sort-of had the right idea, but given that I usually plan to watch several films in succession, there’s no point in me leaving until it’s finished, no matter how dull and tedious the film onscreen is.
Hamlet is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 113 minutes
Release date: January 30th 2026
Studio: Universal Pictures UK
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Rating: 1/10
Director: Aneil Karia
Producers: Riz Ahmed, Michael Lesslie, Allie Moore, Tommy Oliver, James Wilson
Screenplay: Michael Lesslie
Original play: William Shakespeare
Music: Maxwell Sterling
Cast:
Hamlet: Riz Ahmed
Claudius: Art Malik
Laertes: Joe Alwyn
Polonius: Timothy Spall
Ophelia: Morfydd Clark
Gertrude: Sheeba Chaddha
Old Hamlet: Avijit Dutt
Cousin of Hamlet: Zohab Zee Khan
Marcellus: Eben Figueiredo
Osric: Krish Misra
Reynaldo: Kash Ahmad
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.