Grand Theft Hamlet - When Film, Theatre and Video Games Combine

I'm not sure I would have ever predicted a scenario where three things that have been major hobbies and interests throughout my life would combine in the ways they do with Grand Theft Hamlet, a brand new documentary film by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane. The film follows two out of work actors (Sam and Mark) attempting to mount a full production of Hamlet shot entirely inside the world of Grand Theft Auto V during a pandemic lockdown. It's a creative, and fascinating premise with the film going down incredibly well with critics at a variety of different film festivals across the world since its release. The film has been on my personal radar since I first heard about it a few months ago and I was thrilled to discover that it was getting a cinema release so I could see it on the big screen.

Video games were something that helped me through lockdown, like it did with Sam and Mark in the film, and I will always be grateful that one of the positives the lockdown experience gave me was that it reignited a love of playing video games with my friends online. This was something that I had stopped throughout University but had done a lot growing up as a teenager. I've always felt that being able to communicate with friends through online gaming is an underrated factor in fighting male loneliness, a problem that is widely viewed to be an epidemic across the world. I know there definitely would have been considerably lonelier and tougher times growing up if I didn't have it as an outlet to escape into. Some of my best memories as a teenager come from playing games online and as I've gotten older (and struggled with my mental health), I've definitely found the camaraderie online to be something that's helped. So when I found out those themes were prominent in Grand Theft Hamlet, I knew it was a film I wanted to give my time to.

I have to say that I actually really liked it. I thought I would enjoy it but I actually found it to be considerably more entertaining than I expected it to be. It's a documentary that has a lot of heart and creativity at its core, which I found really helps it to stand out from other pieces of work. It reminded me a lot of The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, another amazing documentary from this year, that also focuses on the positive effects online gaming can have. This is a story that is told in a unique way as they point out often throughout the film that no one has ever attempted to put on a theatre production in Los Santos (where GTA Online is set). Their attempts to put on the show creates a lot of hilarious moments as they regularly run into other random players who take the more traditional approach to GTA, which is just random mindless violence, but there's also some really nice moments as they work to recruit a cast for their show through open auditions (with the help of a video online). It was also really interesting hearing Sam and Mark talk about how they were coping with the lockdown at various points in the film as well as seeing conversations between Sam and Pinny, his real life partner and documentary filmmaker who joins their quest to document the journey. I am not sure for definite how genuine all those moments were or whether they were recreated/amplified slightly but they still worked to create relatable moments and dialogues that will resonate with all those who went through lockdowns in similar settings.

I also felt a lot of nostalgia watching the film as I saw them go through the various locations of Los Santos in game. As I mentioned previously, I have gone through various phases in my life with playing video games with my friends as a major hobby I take part in. Watching this documentary reminded me of the hours I've put in over my life exploring and traveling the incredibly detailed world of Los Santos.  It reminded me of attempting heists and drawing plans on our Ipads to really try to make the best tactic work. It reminded me of all sorts of attempts to fling our cars into the army base to steal the planes. It reminded me of protecting the President but only the protectors could use guns (for some reason). Importantly, it just made me reminisce on the power of friendship and escapism you can experience from games like Grand Theft Auto and it was just a nice feeling.

Overall, I really liked the concept of this documentary and I truthfully would love to see more creative attempts to tell theatrical stories through different mediums. Those who know me know that throughout the pandemic, I really enjoyed the details and extent people went too to create faithful re-creations of Disneyland/Universal Studios on Minecraft. I think this type of creativity is so joyful and inspiring and it almost feels a shame that it doesn't often get to reach bigger audiences. In an era of cinema where things like AI or rushed deadlines are often really impacting the quality of some major film releases, it's nice to see a simple creative story be told that could have been made by anyone. I think it's really deserving of it's praise for those reasons.

If you're interested in seeing something a little different, and you're a fan of theatre/video games then this is definitely worth watching if you get a chance. If you are someone that has spent time playing video games with friends then there's definitely a lot to relate to in this film. Finally, if you're reading this and you're someone I've played games online with, I just want to say thank you. This film made me feel grateful and thankful to have/have had close friends to share those experiences and I hope, despite now being a spritely 26, that I get to continue to have those moments with my close friends going forward.

5 out of 5.

Photo: Altitude Films