As we hurtle clumsily into the future, our lives increasingly mediated by electronic interfaces, it can be easy to overlook the dramatic shift in how we relate to each other in the digital age. With the advent of social media and a seemingly endless proliferation of elaborate RPG worldscapes, we seem to be on precipice of an era in which entire lives could be lived purely online. Leaning into that theme, Grand Theft Hamlet – which premiered to great acclaim at the SXSW Film & Television Festival last year – takes a hilarious and surprisingly poignant look at the unexpected possibilities that lay in wait just on the other side of the screen.
The story kicks off at the height of the COVID epidemic. Out-of-work actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen – faced with the isolation of a protracted lockdown – find themselves increasingly retreating into the digital landscape in order to maintain some tenuous sense of human connection. Their destination of choice? The massively popular video game Grand Theft Auto. Wiling away the time clad in the flashy garb of their GTA avatars, the pair one day find themselves striding across the stage of the sprawling Vinewood Bowl (GTA’s facsimile of the legendary Hollywood Bowl arena). With little else to devote themselves to, they are struck with the inspiration (or folly) to attempt a production of Hamlet on that very stage. What begins as a lark soon grabs hold of them, and all but takes over their lives.
Shot entirely within the world of the game (with the help of Sam’s wife, documentary filmmaker Pinny Grylls), the film follows the pair’s trials and tribulations as they attempt to cobble together a cast, hold rehearsals, and keep the project (and each other) from completely falling apart in the process. The auditions kick off with a literal bang, as confused bystanders interrupt monologues with gunfire and random acts of violence. Nevertheless, they are a delight to watch, as a motley crew of mismatched avatars enthusiastically dive into the oddball project. Like the rest of the film, the audition sequence is engaging, fun, and punctuated with moments of unexpected depth and beauty, such as when one player – inhabiting the avatar of a naked green alien – somberly recites a verse from the Quran.
That alien becomes an integral part of the unlikely community that forms as a result of this unusual project, and it’s beautiful to see how this group of far-flung strangers bands together to support each other in such a strange and lonely time. Committed to the same esoteric goal, this strange set of characters keeps showing up, supporting and cheering each other on. Watching them negotiate the slings and arrows of this unorthodox production, one quickly forgets that we are viewing them completely within the world of a videogame.
It’s all too easy to forget that the world we’re seeing is actually quite disconnected from what’s happening IRL. As the world outside the game starts to open up, and key players begin to come and go, our protagonists soldier on, though not before the conflicts in their own lives begin to take a toll. When Sam, Pinny, and Mark’s real-world realities start to bleed into the game, the play feels like it might just fall apart, and the trio have to face up to the conflicts between them in order to forge ahead.
The show must go on, as they say, and the film does a great job of communicating the pleasure and pain of pure artistic endeavour. One of the most fascinating aspects of the film for me was that while the world outside was closing in on them, Mark and Sam soon realized that by putting on their production within this fantastical landscape, they were not confined to the limitations of the real world. Striding beyond the limits of the traditional theatre, they began staging the actions on yachts, blimps, and mountaintops, limited by little more than their own imaginations. Recognizing the seemingly limitless possibilities, they started taking risks they would never be able to otherwise, and succeeded in creating something very unique in the process.
Grand Theft Hamlet is currently available to stream on MUBI.
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