By John Corrado

The 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival runs from April 25th to May 5th in Toronto

During the COVID-19 lockdowns in England, out-of-work actors turned gamers Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen found themselves spending their days playing Grand Theft Auto, and decided to stage a production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet entirely within the online game. As in, their avatars with their jerky movements would recite the famous soliloquies, while at risk of getting “wasted” by other players trying to rack up kills in the violent virtual world.

Sam brings onboard his partner, documentary filmmaker Pinny Grylls, and they stage a series of auditions to find actors to star in their virtual production. But finding gamers who are also willing to recite Shakespeare seems to be a bit of a fool’s errand. Enter username ParTeb, the random Tunisian man with a green alien avatar who keeps joining their streams (and steals every scene).

The elaborate in-game process is documented in Grand Theft Hamlet, a fun doc co-directed by Crane and Grylls, that is set entirely within the virtual world of GTA. It’s amusing stuff that is good for a laugh, but also surprisingly poignant at times, grappling with male mental health, feelings of isolation brought on by the pandemic, and how this all correlates to The Bard’s words. The juxtaposition of them musing on the suicidal meaning behind Hamlet’s famous “to be or not to be” speech while running through the game getting shot at by other players is oddly compelling to watch.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)

Grand Theft Hamlet screens as part of the 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.