This was enjoyable in my opinion. I've seen Hamlet. I've read the play. This is not an exact remake of the original work but I liked that it was a reimagining.

In this film, Ophelia is our main character and we seen how things unfold from her perspective. Her role in the original work is a big deal seeing as she was the innocence in a corrupt court who was driven to insanity and then suicide after the deaths of the men she loved most. Suicide was her escape from all the revenge, evil and madness taking place around her. Here we see her much more resilient without losing her innocent nature. The basic plot of the film is still present but things don't go down the same way.

I thought it was filmed well and the acting was good. I thought the concept presented was creative. I'm sure that a lot of folks will take issue and feel like it was to far removed from the original work but if you take it for what it is rather than point out all the differences, it was a good film. I say check it out.

There are so many expeditions into the forest and a cave that are made by Ophelia in this film that it is easy to confuse "Ophelia" with "Dora and the Lost City of Gold"!

Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" was a play and later a film that showed Shakespeare's "Hamlet" from the perspectives of two schlubs who are given their fifteen minutes of fame. By contrast, "Ophelia" deconstructs Shakespeare's narrative not only to unfold the action from Ophelia's point of view, but it also completely reinvents the character and the narrative.

In the bonus track of the DVD of "Ophelia," one of the film's producers described their Ophelia as a "spitfire," and within the film itself, she describes herself to us as "willful." The director, Claire McCarthy, noted a "tongue-in-cheek" stylistic approach to the Shakespearean classic in the way that characters and events are entirely changed.

Some of the most outrageous choices were have Ophelia marry Hamlet! The ceremony takes place in the forest in the style of Friar Lawrence overseeing the ceremony of Romeo and Juliet tying the knot. The quick-thinking Ophelia is also making rounds on the ramparts of Elsinore late at night on the lookout for the Ghost. Ophelia and Hamlet are both aware of that eavesdropping is occurring in a crucial scene, so they begin to whisper to each other as Claudius and Polonius are listening in. This Ophelia also does not go mad, but rather feigns the madness, giving an award-winning performance of the staged mad songs in front of the court. But the most radical change is that Ophelia stages her own death, giving the impression that she has drowned in the river!

The filmmakers clearly wanted to avoid any semblance of Ophelia as a victim. In the bonus track of the DVD, McCarthy reiterated how this Ophelia was to have "agency" in her life. She begins as a commoner, then rises to the level of handmaiden to Queen Gertrude, prior to marrying the Prince of Denmark, and ultimately living to become a widow and proud single mom!

The film was directed by a woman, and the screenplay was written by a woman, based on a woman's novel. The featured characters, Ophelia and Gertrude, were woman, and a new female character of the "healer" named Mechtild, is Gertrude's sister, who is always available to provide poisons, potions, and cure-alls in her cave.

To crown it off, there is the convent of St. Emilion, where women who are harassed at the court may flee to safety. The protagonist will in time avail herself of the sanctuary afforded by St. Emilion. So, when Hamlet tells Ophelia, "Get thee to a nunnery," he is providing the most important advice that will help to ensure victory for our Super Heroine, turning her into an Ophelia for our time!!

"Ophelia" is a Drama - Romance movie in which we watch Hamlet from Ophelia's perspective. She was raised by Queen Gertrude in Elsinore Castle and she had some feelings for Prince Hamlet. Passion, romance, vengeance combined in this movie.

I found this movie interesting and different since it's from a different perspective than usual. The direction which was made by Claire McCarthy was good and she presented well her main characters and the plot behind her movie. The interpretation of Daisy Ridley who played as Ophelia was good and her combination with some other actors/actresses created a good result. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Naomi Watts's who played as Gertrude / Mechtild, Clive Owen's who played as Claudius and George MacKay's who played as Hamlet. Finally, I have to say that "Ophelia" is an interesting movie and I recommend you to watch it just from curiosity.