Nia DaCosta’s Hedda Debuts Strong on Rotten Tomatoes with 91% Score

Nia DaCosta got here to prominence along with her characteristic debut, writing and directing the crime thriller Little Woods (2018), starring Tessa Thompson, which earned her the Nora Ephron Prize for Feminine Filmmakers on the Tribeca Movie Competition.

After directing two episodes of the British crime drama Prime Boy (2019), DaCosta helmed the horror movie Candyman (2021), changing into the primary feminine Black director to have a film debut at primary on the field workplace. Subsequent, DaCosta directed The Marvels (2023), changing into the primary Black lady to direct a Marvel movie which, regardless of being a box-office bomb, continues to be the highest-grossing movie ever directed by a Black lady.

DaCosta has a number of motion pictures on the best way, together with 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, releasing in theaters on January 16, 2026, and her new drama, which simply debuted to rave critiques.

Hedda Debuts With Robust Rotten Tomatoes Rating

Hedda has debuted with a robust Rotten Tomatoes rating. Written and directed by Nia DaCosta, primarily based on the 1891 play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, the movie follows a disenchanted housewife who, throughout a lavish social gathering, initiates a collection of video games along with her visitors, unleashing a whirlwind of manipulation, want, and treachery that engulfs all of them.

Emmy nominee Tessa Thompson stars within the titular function as Hedda Gabler, reuniting with Nia DaCosta after Little Woods, alongside Imogen Poots, Tom Bateman, Nicholas Pinnock, Nina Hoss, Kathryn Hunter, Finbar Lynch, Mirren Mack, Jamael Westman, and BAFTA nominee Saffron Hocking (Prime Boy) in supporting roles.

Following its premiere on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition on September 7, Hedda has debuted with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film solely has 11 critiques on the time of writing, so its rating ought to fluctuate as extra are printed. Hedda releases in choose theaters on October 22 earlier than streaming on Prime Video on October 29, so it will not have an viewers rating till then.

What Hedda’s Rotten Tomatoes Rating Means For The Film

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The film’s Rotten Tomatoes rating signifies that its critiques are overwhelmingly optimistic. For example, in ScreenRant‘s Hedda review, Graeme Guttmann writes, “Tessa Thompson provides a shocking efficiency in Nia DaCosta’s arresting and seductive model of the tragic play.”

On the time of writing, practically all of the critiques are optimistic. There is just one detrimental assessment from Richard Lawson of The Guardian, who writes, “It is a formidable feat of technical film-making, which has now turn into an indicator of DaCosta’s work. However she caves to baser impulses in reinterpreting an outdated and, some would possibly say, crusty play.”

In any other case, the critiques are praising Nia DaCosta’s daring and sultry reimagining of the basic play, highlighting its daring theatricality, fashionable resonance, and refusal to melt the title character. Critics are particularly lauding Tessa Thompson’s magnetic and sophisticated efficiency, which is unforgiving but mesmerizing, whereas additionally celebrating Hedda‘s immersive vitality and originality, regardless of its deliberate staginess.