Grand Theft Hamlet
Sam Crane & Pinny Grylls / United Kingdom / 2024 / European Premiere / 88 min
Two unemployed friends have a fresh idea: They want to stage Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' in Grand Theft Auto. But even in a virtual world, reality intrudes in a wild and trippy film shot entirely inside the ultra-violent video game.
For unemployed actors Sam and Mark, the future looks bleak. Britain is in its third lockdown and theatres remain closed. They pass the time by stealing cars and shooting strangers in Grand Theft Auto. But when they accidentally discover an amphitheatre in the game, they have a bright idea. How about performing William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ inside GTA? They start casting other online gamers for the roles and rehearse the scenes, but are met with countless challenges. It proves nearly impossible to recite Shakespeare’s immortal classic (which is set in Denmark) in the inhospitable universe without being shot to pieces or chased by the police. Behind the thick layers of British humour runs a deep undercurrent of anxiety. The production of ‘Hamlet’ becomes the two friends’ all-consuming project at a difficult time where Mark is growing increasingly lonely, while Sam is panicking about how to provide for his family. ‘There’s something rotten in Denmark’, but in GTA’s surrealist version of Elsinore, fortunes can change quickly.