Ophelia Parent Guide

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark and Ophelia (Mia Quiney/Daisy Ridley) is painfully aware of the moral corruption permeating the castle of Elsinore. Daughter to king’s counselor Polonius (Dominic Mafham), the motherless girl was taken under the wing of Queen Gertrude (Naomi Watts) and raised in the palace. Now a lady-in-waiting, Ophelia is witness to the queen’s secrets and the covetousness of the king’s brother (Clive Owen). When Prince Hamlet (George McKay) returns home from university upon the death of his father and falls in love with Ophelia, the young couple are trapped in a web of passion, treachery, and vengeance.

With this film, director Claire McCarthy retells William Shakespeare’s famed tragedy, Hamlet, from the perspective of Ophelia. But she does not merely wrap the familiar tale in pink ribbons; it has been reworked and the narrative line altered to bring in messages of female power and agency as well as a strong warning against violence. As Ophelia says, “Not every story must end in a battle.” For her, wit and courage are more valuable than force of arms, and these values direct her course.

For a movie with a strong anti-violence message, Ophelia certainly has gore aplenty. The story is chock-full of murder, poison, swordfights, and even an invasion. As with most of Shakespeare’s tragedies, a not inconsiderable number of main characters wind up dead, sometimes in pools of their own blood. Poisons and unnamed potions play significant parts in the plot and characters use them to numb their own feelings, to induce comas, and to kill. Also of concern to parents and teachers will be a honeymoon scene which involves a couple in various states of undress kissing and embracing. There is no explicit nudity, but the activity is clear. What makes this scene less objectionable for a teen audience is that the principal emotion here is tenderness rather than lust. If teens are going to see sensual content on screen, at the very least it should be marital and infused with love and commitment.

Negative content aside, there is much to say in this film’s favor. It’s lushly produced and easy to watch, with imposing sets and elaborate costumes. The script eschews Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter for modern English and although it borrows lines from Hamlet on occasion, viewers will find Ophelia much easier to follow than the works of the Bard. It should not replace Hamlet but it makes an excellent companion piece, especially for teachers trying to keep a classroom of bored teenagers interested enough to have meaningful discussions on the tale of the doomed prince of Denmark.

The best reason to watch this movie is the character of Ophelia herself. Daisy Ridley gives viewers a fierce protagonist, led by her own convictions and determined to maintain her integrity. Her courage and insistence on following her own inner light make her a living example of her father’s advice: “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.”