Hedda

Police interrogate Hedda after a shooting at her estate, setting a procedural frame for the night. Officers press for details while Hedda offers evasive answers, preserving an air of mystery around her involvement. The scene establishes the tension that will drive the rest of the story.

In a flashback from twenty-four hours earlier, Hedda nearly drowns in the estate lake but stops when a call from Eileen Lovborg confirms her attendance at the party. The near-death moment reveals Hedda's desperation and willingness to risk everything for the desired outcome. This memory foreshadows the emotional stakes of the evening.

Hedda, newly married to debt-ridden academic George Tesman, arranges the party to secure a professorship for him from Professor Greenwood. The gathering is framed as a strategic move rather than a celebration. The goal is to maneuver professional advancement through Hedda's social influence.

Eileen Lovborg arrives with Thea Clifton, revealing she is George's rival and Hedda's former lover. The manuscript about sexuality that Thea and Eileen co-authored is presented as the sole copy that could redefine their field. The atmosphere thickens with old flames and high-stakes academic politics.

During a private conversation, Eileen rejects Hedda's advances and asserts she has moved on with Thea. Hedda's jealousy is palpable as Eileen calls her a coward for choosing a conventional marriage. The scene intensifies Hedda's entanglement in the scheme to secure the professorship.

The competition for the professorship tightens as Eileen's forthcoming publication gives her a significant edge. Hedda senses the threat and tries to influence opinions and relationships to protect George's chances. The rival dynamic between Eileen and George becomes the central pressure of the evening.

Hedda orchestrates a scandal to damage Eileen's standing with Professor Greenwood. She exploits Thea's fears and pressures a sober Eileen into drinking. Then Hedda steals Eileen's manuscript, letting Eileen believe it has vanished into the lake.

With the manuscript compromised and Thea's relationship with Eileen broken, Eileen's career prospects unravel. Thea's allegiance fractures under Hedda's manipulation, leaving Eileen isolated. Eileen's personal and professional crisis deepens as the night continues.

In despair, Eileen's vulnerability is exploited when Hedda offers her General Gabler's pistol, insinuating she should take her own life. Eileen initially resists but is emotionally overwhelmed by the orchestrated ruin. Hedda's calculated cruelty advances as Eileen hesitates at the brink.

Hedda secretly burns Eileen's manuscript in the fireplace. When George discovers the act, Hedda claims she burned it for their own good and fabricates a pregnancy to prevent him from objecting. George, overwhelmed, does not intervene.

As the night unfolds, Eileen wanders the house and clashes with a friend named David; a pistol discharges accidentally, shooting Eileen in the stomach. The incident shifts the night from manipulation to a violent consequence. The shooting reverberates through the household as dawn approaches.

At dawn, George and Thea decide to reconstruct Eileen's manuscript from notes and memory, hoping to salvage something. George dismisses Hedda's concerns about finances, suggesting they move to a smaller house. Hedda is excluded from the reconstruction and denied involvement.

Judge Brack confronts Hedda with the missing pistol and the weight of what happened; he threatens to expose her unless she yields to his control. Hedda refuses to submit and even fires the remaining bullets at Brack, missing on purpose. The confrontation exposes Hedda's fear and defiance.

Brack pursues and physically assaults Hedda, forcing her to flee toward the lake. The confrontation escalates into a desperate flight as escape seems possible only by returning to the water. The pursuit heightens the sense of impending catastrophe.

Hedda reaches the lake, fills her pockets with stones, and walks deeper into the water as the dawn approaches. She pauses and smiles enigmatically upon learning that Eileen has survived, and the film ends with her fate left ambiguous. The ending centers on Hedda's unresolved longing, cruelty, and possible self-destruction.