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There\u2019s a reason director Aneil Karia\u2019s HAMLET lingers long after the final frame\u2014and it\u2019s not simply because of its striking visuals or bold contemporary setting. It\u2019s because, for perhaps the first time in a modern adaptation, the story is experienced not as observation, but as immersion.<\/p>\n
We are not watching HAMLET.<\/p>\n
We are inside him.<\/p>\n
Speaking with me in this exclusive interview about his approach, Karia is quick to acknowledge that this perspective wasn\u2019t born out of academic reverence for Shakespeare, but rather the opposite.<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably left school thinking Shakespeare was something you had to be more intellectual\u2026to connect with,\u201d he admits. \u201cSo I had to find a way into it that I could understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
That \u201cway in\u201d became the film\u2019s defining principle: psychological immediacy.<\/p>\n
A Hamlet You Feel, Not Just Understand<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Working from a stripped-down script by Michael Lesslie, Karia made a decisive creative choice\u2014to anchor the entire film in Hamlet\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of my filmmaking has been about trying to root the viewer in the character\u2019s experience,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason not to do that with Hamlet. Ultimately, it should be emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n That philosophy transforms the narrative. What has traditionally been a cerebral exercise becomes something visceral\u2014unsettling, immediate, and deeply subjective.<\/p>\n And it is here that Karia\u2019s collaboration with cinematographer Stuart Bentley proves essential.<\/p>\n When the Camera Becomes the Mind<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Rather than treating the camera as an observer, Karia and Bentley use it as an extension of Hamlet\u2019s psyche.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the beginning, there\u2019s a kind of rigid formality,\u201d Karia notes, reflecting the character\u2019s attempt to maintain control within an oppressive family structure. \u201cAnd as Hamlet unravels, the camera does too.\u201d<\/p>\n That evolution\u2014from composed framing to increasingly turbulent, handheld immediacy\u2014creates a visual language that mirrors emotional descent. Certainty fractures. Stability dissolves. And the audience is carried along for the fall.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not simply stylistic\u2014it\u2019s experiential.<\/p>\n Color, Space, and Emotional Architecture<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If movement reflects Hamlet\u2019s inner state, so too does the film\u2019s use of color and environment.<\/p>\n Karia describes a deliberate contrast between sterile, oppressive interiors\u2014crematoriums, family spaces\u2014and more heightened, almost disorienting environments, like the wedding sequence at the Meridian Grand.<\/p>\n \u201cThat space felt much more fitting,\u201d he says, noting its clinical, corporate atmosphere. \u201cIt had this slightly oppressive, contemporary feel.\u201d<\/p>\n From there, the film allows itself bursts of heightened expression\u2014most notably in the play-within-a-play\u2014before returning to a more controlled palette. These shifts are not arbitrary; they function as emotional markers, oscillating between repression and release.<\/p>\n And underpinning it all is night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted it to feel like everything is constantly moving forward,\u201d Karia explains. \u201cAnd night seemed to speak to Hamlet\u2019s demons\u2026his state of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Editing the Line Between Clarity and Chaos<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Maintaining that singular point of view while honoring the broader world of the story proved to be one of the film\u2019s greatest challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a straightforward edit,\u201d Karia admits. \u201cWe had to go down a lot of dead ends.\u201d<\/p>\n The difficulty lay in balance\u2014remaining anchored in Hamlet\u2019s perspective without losing the narrative weight of the surrounding characters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere comes a point where you\u2019re stripping so much out\u2026you ask, when does Hamlet stop being Hamlet?\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a delicate line\u2014one that the film ultimately walks with precision, preserving both momentum and depth.<\/p>\n A Score That Lives Between Worlds<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Composer Maxwell Sterling\u2019s score plays a similarly dual role, bridging the timeless and the contemporary.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a temptation to go ultra-modern,\u201d Karia says. \u201cBut Maxwell brought something more complex.\u201d<\/p>\n Blending classical instrumentation with a modern sensibility, the score reflects the film\u2019s broader ethos\u2014honoring Shakespeare\u2019s legacy while reinterpreting it for a new audience.<\/p>\n Interestingly, restraint became as important as composition.<\/p>\n \u201cThe temptation was to have music everywhere,\u201d Karia notes. \u201cBut we had to remember the power of stripping it away.\u201d<\/p>\n Nowhere is that more evident than in the \u201cTo be or not to be\u201d sequence, where the late-stage decision to remove music allows raw sound and performance to take precedence.<\/p>\n Finding a Way In<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n At its core, Karia\u2019s HAMLET is less about reinvention for its own sake and more about accessibility\u2014about finding a way into a story that has, for many, felt distant or impenetrable.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to approach it in a way that I could connect with,\u201d he says. \u201cSomething emotional. Something immediate.\u201d<\/p>\n And in doing so, he\u2019s created something that invites audiences\u2014whether lifelong Shakespeare devotees or hesitant newcomers\u2014to do the same.<\/p>\n Not by analyzing Hamlet.<\/p>\n But by experiencing him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n by debbie elias, exclusive interview 04\/01\/2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n HAMLET will release only in theatres on April 10, 2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n