- Ophelia's isolation leads to a tragic end, while Gertrude falls prey to Claudius scheming. Hamlet returns from England and encounters The Gravediggers, before the apocalyptic showdown ensues. Finally, the baffling truth is revealed.
- We begin the final act with a flash-sideways of Hamlet drinking alone at the bar; visions of Ashka's and Sugley's murders dance across the screen.
Meanwhile on stage, The Gentleman (a psychiatrist) is giving his diagnosis of Ophelia's mental condition to Gertrude and Claudius, expressly stating that she is stirring up wild rumours that could be dangerous for the monarchy. Claudius reflects that the causes of this mental breakdown are purely a series of an unfortunate events. In a flash-sideways, we understand that the real world Ophelia has become addicted to heroine, following her break up with Hamlet.
At that moment on stage, Laertes storms the castle and enters with armed guards in the form of 'Fear & Hate Incarnate' who seize the throne room. Laertes is out for blood, after receiving news of his father's untimely death. It looks like a coup, until Claudius cleverly talks Laertes down, offering him a chance to investigate the matter and punish those responsible, redirecting his wrath towards Hamlet.
Just then, Ophelia is brought in by the armed guards. She is mentally deranged and proceeds to sing Tomorrow Is St Valentine's Day which more than hints at her abandonment by Hamlet. After being taken away - she is inconsolable - Claudius dismisses Gertrude and in secret tells Laertes that Hamlet is his father's killer. They develop a plan involving foils (fencing swords) that will allow Laertes to kill Hamlet in plain view of everyone and make it look like a mistake. Just then, Gertrude returns and tells Laertes that his sister has drowned herself. Her account is intercut with another scene from the stage in which it is clear that Gertrude, in fact, murdered Ophelia and orchestrated a cover up.
In the real world, Hamlet is visiting Nikolai, a cryptocurrency trader in Chelsea. He brings diamonds that a lapidary inspects before they are put up for auction on the digital black market.
Back on the stage, two gravediggers are going about their business; the grave they are digging is evidently for Ophelia, as we can infer by their discussion about the ethics of suicide. Watching from afar, Hamlet and Horatio arrive and reflect on the nature of the gravedigger's work. Interceding, Hamlet enters an elusive discourse with the First Gravedigger, who teases Hamlet relentlessly until, it is revealed, a nearby skull once belonged to the court jester Yorick. It transpires that Hamlet, as a boy, was great friends with Yorick and the tone of the conversation rapidly turns from comic to tragic. His reflections are intercut with shots from the real world, when Hamlet and Sugley were the best of friends. On stage Hamlet smashes the skull open, revealing a brick of cocaine hidden inside, and proceeds to cut 'tickets' from the bit for distribution.
Interrupting his weighing of tickets, the funeral procession for Ophelia arrives on stage. Initially Hamlet hides and watches from afar but upon realising who the deceased is - apparently he was not aware of Ophelia's death until that moment - rallies forth and begs forgiveness from Laertes. Perturbed by this humility, Laertes presses on with his sinister plan nonetheless and soon they are fencing 'for honour' (though, in truth, Laertes has a sharpened practice blade, poisoned at the tip, and is fencing to kill). Surprisingly, as Laertes has the reputation of being the superior swordsman, Hamlet wins all three rounds, even disarming Laertes and cutting him with his own [poisoned] sword - but not before sustaining a fatal cut himself, first.
Meanwhile, Claudius, who had prepared a poisoned cup of wine for Hamlet in case Laertes failed to kill him, has accidentality poisoned Gertrude when she took up the chalice and drank from it herself without asking. Consequently, she is the first to die, suffering an agonising death, vomiting blood and realising the wine was poisoned all-too-late. In the confusion, as the effects of the poison begin to work on him, Laertes calls out Claudius as orchestrating events and Hamlet, finally, has his revenge. Laertes begs forgiveness of Hamlet for his part in this mass murder and Hamlet forgives him.
These events are intercut with flash-sideways in which Hamlet visits the buyer for his diamonds, a wealthy mobster living in a luxurious mansion. The buyer escorts Hamlet to a dock, where a box is unloaded and Hamlet's acquisition is revealed; a case full of rifles. Hamlet stores the rifles in a garage but on his way home is ambushed by Sol's biker gang, who drag him from his car to a quiet spot under the motorway.
Hamlet delivers his final monologue on stage, impending death by poison unavoidable, finishing his monologue even as Sol shoots the real world Hamlet in the head.
The alarm clock goes off and Ophelia wakes; the time on the alarm clock now reads 07:15, meaning the full 3 hours of events we saw on stage were merely a 15 minute day dream. End credits for an old movie of Hamlet are rolling on a television set on the wall in the real world that merges with the action on stage, suddenly almost indistinguishable so closely do the two worlds match. It appears Ophelia was snoozing, Shakespeare's language permeating into her dream state as she reminisced upon the relationship she had with the real world Hamlet. Starting for the cupboard, stage and flash-sideways becoming one singular reality, she retrieves her kit and proceeds to deliberately overdose on heroine, dying in an ecstasy of memories.
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