One Of The Year's Best Movies Is About Recreating Hamlet...In Grand Theft Auto Online [SXSW 2024]
"Grand Theft Auto V" is one of the biggest video games of all time, which in turn paved the way for a huge player base in "Grand Theft Auto Online." For a couple of out-of-work actors, it provided them a space to do the thing they missed the most during the pandemic: acting. While "GTA" is a place to commit crimes in a carefree, digital environment, a couple of guys named Sam and Mark turned it into the most unlikely venue to play host to some of William Shakespeare's work.
"Grand Theft Hamlet" is a new documentary that chronicles Sam and Mark's journey from merely playing "GTA" to hatching a plan to put on a production of "Hamlet" staged entirely in the game. The film recently premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas, and I am here to tell you that it's unlike any other movie you've ever seen before. Touching, hilarious, sweet, and timely, it is something you will want to put on your radar immediately, even if you don't much care for Shakespeare or "Grand Theft Auto." This is one of those exceptionally rare cinematic achievements that feels like it is truly for everyone. I don't say that lightly.
During the pandemic, so many of us turned to video games as a means of escape at a time when everything felt hopeless, or just plain monotonous. Sam and Mark may have started out playing "Grand Theft Auto Online" for that reason, but they soon discovered it could provide them something more. Could this chaotic realm of digital violence offer up a venue for something more civilized? People have used these games to do some impressive things. Heck, someone even remade a scene from "Terminator 2" in "Grand Theft Auto V" years ago. But a revered work from Shakespeare? That's new territory, to put it lightly.
This movie stares chaos in the face and embraces it. It shouldn't work, but it does.
Making magic with Shakespeare in GTA
We get to watch Sam and Mark's entire journey from inception to completion, with the whole thing captured entirely within the game. Seriously. There is not a shred of footage from the real world to be found, making this a wholly unique experience. Directors Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls manage to inject the admittedly bizarre experiment with a shocking amount of humanity. That's not something one often encounters in the world of "Grand Theft Auto." It's best to not get into the finer details of the relationship dynamics but there is a lot of human drama at play outside of the tragedy of Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark.
More than a few movies have been made that are essentially about the pandemic, such as director John Hyams' slasher flick "Sick." Many of them have felt either gratuitous or unnecessary. Even at their best, they just remind us all of something we want to move on from. For my money, "Grand Theft Hamlet" is the first truly great movie set against the backdrop of the pandemic. It's not so much about the pandemic as it is using the pandemic as a backdrop (because it was very much a factor for those involved) to tell a relatable, human story. It's the most effective tale of triumph in the face of adversity you're likely to find this year.
It's an absurd idea. It shouldn't work — and yet it does. It's relatable even if you don't know a thing about "Hamlet" or "GTA." Most remarkable of all? The words of William Shakespeare somehow manage to make sense of this ill-fitting world they are being presented in. It makes Shakespeare relevant in this brave new world we're all living in, all within the confines of the fictional city of Los Santos.
"Grand Theft Hamlet" does not currently have a release date, but stay tuned.