Grand Theft Hamlet
| Release Date: January 17, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
82
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Original-CinChris KnightFeb 21, 2025
Ultimately, Grand Theft Hamlet — again, I’m referring to both the performance and the movie — is an emotional triumph. Best of all, you don’t need to be an experienced gamer to enjoy it, though I’m sure there are in-jokes for the initiated. Read full review
100
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyJan 14, 2025
More than just a shaggy dog story, Grand Theft Hamlet is a pointed, entertaining and moving examination of interdisciplinary conductivity at its most surprising. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter BradshawDec 6, 2024
A brilliant idea, brilliantly executed; hilarious, surreal and, yes, in its weird way, genuinely exciting. Read full review
95
Paste MagazineMatt MitchellFeb 6, 2025
Grand Theft Hamlet puts the Bard’s work into a resourceful context, and thank God, because Hamlet is some of his dullest material. It’s a vehicle that Crane and Oosterveen first use to outmuscle isolation and boredom, only to watch it turn into a hilariously intimate source of camaraderie. Read full review
91
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiJan 19, 2025
If there is one disappointing element of this moving, amusing, sad and memorable film it’s that it isn’t five hours long. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenFeb 28, 2025
In Grand Theft Hamlet, high art collides with low expectations, resulting in something like a renewed faith in humanity. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkJan 13, 2025
Grand Theft Hamlet excels at blurring the line between low and high art. Read full review
85
Film ThreatAlan NgMar 15, 2024
Ultimately, we witness an acting community’s evolution throughout the film. Read full review
83
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMar 15, 2024
I wish we got to see more of the big show at the end of the movie, but that’s almost beside the point — all that matters is that, somehow, someway, it goes on. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesAmy NicholsonJan 19, 2025
The film’s most disorienting and wondrous realization, however, is that Shakespearean acting can exist even within “Grand Theft Auto’s” limits. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJan 17, 2025
You can’t stop art, motherfuckers, and whether it’s in Grand Theft Auto Online or during a global pandemic, the show must go on. Read full review
80
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonJan 17, 2025
It’s surprisingly moving, more a testament to the human drive toward community and connection in even the most unexpected of spaces. Read full review
80
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeDec 5, 2024
The film is at its best when incorporating text from the play with oddly appropriate gameplay. Read full review
80
EmpireJordan KingDec 5, 2024
Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls’ feature co-directorial debut is a riotously funny, unexpectedly poignant ode to gaming, Shakespeare, the indestructible nature of art, and the benefits of befriending bazooka wielding extraterrestrials. Read full review
80
The Daily BeastAllegra FrankApr 3, 2024
What initially seems like too absurd and comedic a conceit to work for a full 90 minutes ends up being one of the more human and successful works of art inspired by the COVID lockdowns. Read full review
80
IGNMatt DonatoMar 16, 2024
This is an irreplicable experience that speaks volumes about following your dreams despite the challenges that await. The reward will always be worthwhile, even if it’s just about the friends you make and NPC cops you massacre along the way. Read full review
80
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganMar 15, 2024
The questing duo has trusted ‘GTA’ and its trigger-happy denizens: they just need to trust the audience a little bit more that this new world can be enjoyed without the same old beats. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinMar 15, 2024
The film gets across the weird weight of lockdown, a time of tension and anxiety but also an opportunity for creative growth none of us saw coming. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerJan 14, 2025
A making-of film fueled, like the Let’s Plays and livestreams it’s in conversation with, by the chaos of a plan gone wrong, Grand Theft Hamlet is equal parts charming and cheesy—both due to its experimental setting. Read full review
70
The New YorkerAnthony LaneFeb 28, 2025
If you fancy a fresh dose of grotesquerie, and more technical phraseology than you can shake a joystick at, I recommend “Grand Theft Hamlet.” Read full review
70
Screen RantGrant HermannsJan 25, 2025
For those with even a general interest in gaming and looking for a charming twist on the theater industry, Grand Theft Hamlet is still worth a watch. Read full review
70
Little White LiesMarina AshiotiDec 6, 2024
The film’s spontaneous spirit is muddied by a sense that some ideas are retroactively staged . . . but what ultimately stays with you is the actor duo’s commendable ability to find inspiration and poetic gravitas in silliness, horseplay and tomfoolery, even (and especially) in the darkest of times. Read full review
70
VarietyStephen SaitoMar 15, 2024
The infrastructure of the game leaves things wide open for human creativity to take it in directions that couldn’t be predicted and people foster connections without any superficial prejudices getting in the way as Crane and Oosterveen assemble a cast. Read full review
70
ColliderRoss BonaimeMar 15, 2024
Grand Theft Hamlet shows how incredible it is to see how a new medium of storytelling can shift what we know of a beloved work and put it into an entirely new context after centuries. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 8, 2025
The film, co-scripted and directed by Crane and Grylls, with Crane playing Hamlet, and narrated and somewhat driven by Oosterveen, who portrays Polonius, is a mad idea but a great gimmick, one that occasionally transcends that gimmick. Read full review
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