Grand Theft Auto Has The Weirdest Documentary Coming Out On Streaming
When it comes to video game adaptations lately, we’ve seen a lot of great ones hit the big and small screen. Some of these stories were almost tailor-made for big budget stories in the same universe around the characters. But what about documentaries? And even better, what about video game meta-documentary stories? Well, there’s one dealing with Grand Theft Auto, but it isn’t what you would think.
The Hollywood Reporter has it that Grand Theft Hamlet has been purchased by Mubi and will soon hit the streamer. What the hell is this, you might ask? Well, it’s a documentary that combines Shakespeare’s Hamlet with Grand Theft Auto. Yeah, we’re getting weird with this thing.
Grand Theft Hamlet
Grand Theft Hamlet is a documentary following two out-of-work actors, Sam and Mark, during the Covid-19 pandemic when many folks were just stuck at home. They set out to put on a full production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet all within the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto Online.
Hamlet In GTA
Placing Hamlet in the crazy-violent world of Grand Theft Auto is a hilarious juxtaposition just on its face, but pulling it off and documenting the whole process is a whole other story. Throughout the documentary, the two deal with casting actors in the virtual world through auditions.
Plus there are technical difficulties in just trying to get passed the violence in the game. The latter comes up with just keeping their characters alive long enough in Grand Theft Auto to actually deliver the lines.
Other Factors To Consider
Plus, in putting on Grand Theft Hamlet the two have to deal with other players, griefers, who simply want to make sure the production doesn’t happen.
Agents of chaos, these folks are out there to cog up the performance for no other reason than to just do it. Such is the nature of the online video game world. It’s crazy out there.
Grand Theft Hamlet At SXSW
Grand Theft Hamlet premiered at SXSW in 2024. There is won the documentary feature jury award.
And the documentary has been met with critical acclaim through its early run. The Grand Theft Auto documentary sits at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the concept, the flair, and the emotional stakes the filmmakers were able to capture in this very different kind of movie.
They thought it was both funny and weirdly touching at times which is a testament to just how much the filmmakers put in here. No one would ever confuse Grand Theft Auto with having emotional gravity, but these guys were able to pull it off.
Grand Theft Hamlet And Mubi
Mubi now owns the streaming rights to Grand Theft Hamlet and the Grand Theft Auto documentary and it will have a big screen showing on October 15th at the BFI London Film Festival and on October 20th on BFI Imax.
Grand Theft Hamlet is just more proof that weird can work when done correctly. With a Grand Theft Auto world spun a little differently, we see how creativity certainly still wins the day. It’s a very cool turn of events and we can’t wait to see it on Mubi.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
