Grand Theft Hamlet is a 2024 British documentary film directed by Sam Crane and Pinny Grylls.[2] The film is about the staging of a production of Hamlet inside of Grand Theft Auto Online during one of the UK's COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in 2021.[3] The film premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Jury Award for best documentary feature.[3][4] The film will be released theatrically in the United Kingdom on 6 December 2024 by Tull Stories, with Mubi releasing the film globally on its streaming service in addition to US theatrical release in early 2025.[5]
The documentary is an example of machinima, a method of filmmaking that exclusively utilizes in-game graphics to create the cinematic experience.[6]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 25 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10.[7]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[8]
