If the new Prime Video movie Hedda reminds you of Saltburn, you’re not the only one – but the cast don’t see it

For some lucky US cinephiles, Hedda is already showing in select theatres. For everyone else, the new movie is coming to Prime Video on October 29 – and there might just be another film on the streaming service that it reminds you of.

Based on the famed Ibsen play of the same name, director Nia DaCosta transforms a story we've heard countless times into something fresh, prompting us to ask brand-new questions. Over the course of one night at a raucous mansion party, there's deceit, a love triangle, and inappropriate power dynamics at play.

It's wild, it's scandalous, it's enough to make you blush if you're watching with family. Now, what does that remind you of?

If you answered Emerald Fennell's controversial 2023 movie Saltburn, you're on my wavelength. As soon as Hedda had its world premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, the comparisons came flooding in. After watching it, I can see why... but I think the judgment does Hedda a huge disservice (read my review to find out why, I'm keeping this spoiler-free).

When I had the opportunity to speak to the film's cast during its London premiere, I knew I had to get their thoughts on the Saltburn comparisons... and their answers caught me by surprise.

Hedda cast 'never thought about parallels' with Saltburn while shooting – but they talked about it

Hedda - Official Trailer | Prime Video - YouTube

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"No. Only because they're very different," star Tom Bateman, who stars as George Tesman, tells me when I ask him if the Saltburn-Hedda headlines are fair.

"I mean, the only thing I can see similar is a big party that takes place in a manor house. It's sort of like a similar aesthetically that way. Maybe there is, because of the tensions and complexities between people, the secrets, whatever relation and the manipulation controlling of other people."

Nicholas Pinnock, who plays Judge Roland, chimes in, "It's funny, because I think when we were shooting this, we actually talked about Saltburn quite a lot, because it had come out as we were filming. We talked about certain moments. I guess I've weirdly never thought about the parallel beyond that."

I can't say it's surprising that Saltburn was brought up, given how much of a watercooler effect it had. But here's where they differ: Saltburn's party scene was brief but completely chaotic frivolity, indulging in pure hedonism until it crashed head-on into life-changing disaster.

In the case of Hedda, the party is everything... and I mean everything. It's the reason the story exists in the first place, and it serves as a battleground for calculated, restrained sabotage. Hedda (Tessa Thompson) throws the party to get George the promotion he wants, but decides to make everybody else's lives more difficult in the process.

It's a fascinating watch, and you can stream Hedda and Saltburn one after the other to see if you agree with me. But the cast's last words?

"I think [Hedda] is a testament to how rich and confident the piece is, what Nia has done, and what everyone felt doing it. We felt very confident in what was being created."

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