Transmedia experimentation in cinema has become increasingly popular, but it’s not without a plethora of challenges and stumbling blocks. The combination of film and games has reached a fever pitch in recent years in both commercial and independent spaces, such as Total Refusal’s award-winning documentary short Hardly Working, shot entirely within a video game world. Now, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s Grand Theft Hamlet was just crowned the winner of SXSW’s Documentary Feature Competition, making a strong case for joyful transmedia risk-taking. Crane is best known for his West End stage work, but he is also a self-described video artist who appropriates games spaces. His first short, We Are Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On (2021), chronicles the same theatrical enterprise as the new film but in 10 minutes.

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Stuck indoors during pandemic-era 2021, Crane and his actor friend Mark Oosterveen spent much of their time playing Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Online, enjoying the seemingly mindless distraction of the notoriously violent video game. After an instance of running from the in-game police, they find themselves at Vinewood Bowl, GTA’s version of the Hollywood Bowl. There, the pair imagines staging a production of Hamlet within the game, eventually going through the motions from auditions to a final show taking place in creative locations through the virtual world.

After recruiting Crane's partner Grylls, she begins filming the two and their new theatrical endeavour. Crane and Oosterveen draw on an eclectic collection of characters during public auditions, including a historic cook, a lifelong Shakespeare fanatic, a stay-at-home father, and well-known video games voice actor Jen Cohn. The cast must learn how to combine voice acting with in-game character actions, or “emotes”, with theatrical blocking in order to execute the entirety of the Shakespearean tragedy.

The film grows increasingly existential as actors leave due to real-life job commitments and time constraints. With the selling point that the entire film is shot in-game, the filmmakers are forced to monologue about difficult topics within the GTA world, which ultimately feels staged. The empathetic appeal in the subjects’ plights doesn’t always land, while Grylls’ editing is often clunky, relying heavily on rapid fade-to-blacks, even though her feat of in-game filming is formidable.

The expository portion drags while the real intrigue and laughs occur only when true spontaneity occurs, such as a man with an alien character auditioning by reciting a segment from the Qur’an. Jamie Perera’s music also feels clichéd at times, with bouncing electronic music accompanying Crane and Oosterveen’s first revelations and sweeping piano melodies at the outro. Another formal difficulty is that the viewers are likely to be stuck staring at the subtitles due to the always-changing avatars of the characters onscreen and rapid-fire conversation.

Grand Theft Hamlet plays out as a fascinating concept with a ragged execution. Given that the actors-cum-gamers are operating in a virtual space with players from around the world, the film boasts several unexpected twists and a healthy dose of hilarity. However, the premise is ultimately more interesting than the actual execution.

Grand Theft Hamlet is a UK production by Project 1961 and Grasp The Nettle Films in association with Park Pictures. International sales are managed by Altitude Film Entertainment Sales.