00:00A poor musician promises to sing spring back into the world.
00:03The woman he loves gets desperate enough to sell her soul to the god of the underworld instead.
00:10This is Hattestown, the Tony-winning Broadway musical, now captured on film,
00:16and it just quietly outsold Hamilton's own opening weekend at the box office.
00:21Hey, welcome back to the channel!
00:24And if you're new here, this is where we break down movies the same way every time.
00:28Full plot, full ending, and an honest look at how it's actually landing with audiences and critics.
00:35Today's a little different, though, because we're covering Hattestown,
00:39the filmed capture of the acclaimed stage musical,
00:41and this one's become a genuine box office surprise.
00:46Hattestown, the musical, is a filmed live capture of the Tony-award-winning Broadway show
00:51with music, lyrics, and book by Anais Mitchell, directed for stage by Rachel Chavkin.
00:57This film version was directed by Brett Sullivan, recorded during three live performances
01:02at London's Lyric Theatre in early 2025.
01:06The film brings back five original Broadway principal cast members, specifically for this capture.
01:13Reeve Carney as Orpheus, Eva Noblazada as Yoridice, Andre de Shields as Hermes, Amber Gray as Persephone,
01:20and Patrick Page as Hades, all performing alongside the rest of the West End's regular ensemble, cast.
01:28Hattestown blends two ancient Greek myths together, Orpheus and Yoridice, and Hades and Persephone,
01:34using both to explore very modern, contemporary themes, poverty, exploitation,
01:39and the fragile hope that love and art might actually be strong enough to change a broken world.
01:46The show opens with Hermes, playing narrator, welcoming the audience directly into the story,
01:53introducing the characters, the ensemble, and the on-stage band all at once.
01:59From there, we meet Yoridice, a young woman shaped by hardship, cynical about love,
02:07and Orpheus, an idealistic musician who falls for her instantly.
02:14Orpheus asks Yoridice to marry him almost immediately after meeting her,
02:18and she's understandably doubtful.
02:21Given that they're both living in genuine poverty,
02:23he tells her he's writing a song powerful enough to actually bring spring back to the world,
02:29promising that once it's finished, their hardship will finally end.
02:34Orpheus then tells the parallel story of Hades and Persephone,
02:38the king of the underworld and his wife,
02:40who spends half the year in the world above bringing summer with her,
02:44before Hades comes to reclaim her for winter,
02:47dragging her back down to Hattestown, his underground factory kingdom.
02:52As Orpheus stays lost in writing his song,
02:55the weather turns brutal,
02:57and Yoridice is left searching for food and firewood entirely on her own.
03:03She grows increasingly desperate,
03:05and the fates keep tempting her with vivid descriptions
03:08of Hades' town's promised safety, warmth, and steady, guaranteed work.
03:15Hades himself comes looking for someone who will actually appreciate what Hades' town offers,
03:20and finds Yoridice caught in a brutal snowstorm.
03:24With her stomach empty and the cold closing in,
03:28she sees no real choice left.
03:30She says goodbye to a still-distracted Orpheus,
03:34and follows Hades down to Hattestown.
03:37Once Orpheus realizes Yoridice is gone,
03:41he resolves immediately to rescue her.
03:44With Hermes' guidance,
03:46he makes the long, dangerous journey down to Hattestown entirely on foot,
03:51refusing to take the easier route by train,
03:54driven purely by his determination to bring her home.
03:57Down in Hattestown,
04:00Eurydice discovers exactly what she's actually signed up for.
04:05Endless labor,
04:07no real freedom,
04:09and a boss in Hades,
04:11who rules through fear and a literal wall,
04:15built to keep outside influence out.
04:20She begins forgetting her old life above entirely,
04:24exactly as the fates warned she eventually would.
04:29When Orpheus finally arrives,
04:32Hades has him attacked by his own workers,
04:34and coldly informs him,
04:37Yoridice signed her contract willingly,
04:39refusing to give up despite the fates telling him to abandon all hope.
04:44Orpheus starts rallying the workers instead,
04:47catching Persephone's attention in the process.
04:52Genuinely moved by Orpheus' determination,
04:56Persephone pleads directly with Hades to let Eurydice go free.
05:01As the workers themselves start questioning the freedom they were originally promised,
05:06Hades issues a challenge instead,
05:09daring Orpheus to sing his finished song,
05:12on penalty of death if he fails.
05:16Orpheus sings his completed song,
05:18and it reminds Hades directly of his own love for Persephone.
05:22The two reconcile on the spot,
05:25dancing together for the first time in what's implied to be ages,
05:29while Orpheus and Eurydice promise each other they'll stay together,
05:33no matter what comes next.
05:36Orpheus asks Hades outright if they can finally leave.
05:40Hades agrees,
05:42but only under one specific, brutal condition.
05:46Orpheus must lead the way out walking single file,
05:49and if he turns back even once to check that Eurydice is actually following him,
05:54she's condemned to remain in Hadestown forever.
05:58Orpheus and Eurydice begin the long, genuinely frightening walk back up out of the underworld,
06:06with every worker in Hadestown watching them as a real symbol of hope.
06:11Meanwhile, Persephone and Hades quietly decide to give their own long, complicated marriage
06:19another honest chance.
06:23Just as Orpheus reaches the very end of the path,
06:27doubt finally overtakes him completely,
06:30and he turns around.
06:32That single moment of doubt
06:34condemns Eurydice to return to Hadestown for good.
06:39It's a genuinely heartbreaking ending,
06:42and one this ancient myth has always ended with,
06:46no matter how many times it gets retold.
06:51Hermes closes out the show,
06:53reflecting directly on why this sad, familiar story still needs telling and retelling,
06:58and the company begins performing it again from the very beginning,
07:02right there on stage.
07:04It's a deliberate, powerful choice,
07:07treating the tragedy as something worth returning to,
07:10not something to avoid.
07:12After the story resets,
07:14and the curtain call begins,
07:16the performer playing Persephone leads the entire company
07:20in honoring Orpheus specifically for his optimism and bravery,
07:26even in defeat,
07:28closing the whole experience on a note of genuine,
07:31earned communal warmth,
07:33rather than pure despair.
07:36Because this is a film's stage capture,
07:39rather than a traditional movie,
07:41the camera actually gets access no live audience member ever has,
07:45including a shot from the stage lift itself,
07:48as characters enter and exit Hadestown,
07:52giving film viewers details that theatergoers in the room never actually get to see.
07:57There's a genuinely compelling behind-the-scenes story here too.
08:02Patrick Page tore his Achilles tendon before filming,
08:05only performed in two of the three captured shows.
08:08The film even shows him putting on a medical boot,
08:11modified to match Hades' dark aesthetic,
08:14with fans noting it echoes Cerberus' dog-headed cane.
08:19So how's the movie actually landing?
08:22Extraordinarily well.
08:23It sits at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes,
08:26across 37 reviews,
08:28with critics praising how the film recreates the full Broadway experience,
08:32with, in their words,
08:34transporting aplomb,
08:35while Metacritic recorded universal acclaim as well.
08:39Financially, this has been a genuine phenomenon.
08:43Its opening weekend grossed $10.2 million,
08:46actually beating the opening weekend of the Hamilton stage film from the previous year.
08:51It's since crossed $20 million domestically,
08:54a rare, standout result for a film theater capture.
08:59In a recent interview,
09:00creator Anaïs Mitchell reflected on how her own relationship to the material
09:05has shifted since writing it in her 20s,
09:08saying she now identifies more with the older marriage between Hades and Persephone,
09:12and the question of whether real redemption is still possible after so many years together.
09:18So, is Hattestown worth watching?
09:21Whether you've seen the stage show a dozen times or never once,
09:26critics and audiences agree this film captures something genuinely special.
09:32An acclaimed musical,
09:34its full original cast reunited,
09:37and a story about love, poverty,
09:39and hope that clearly still connects,
09:43decades after its myths were first told.
09:47Hattestown,
09:48Hattestown, the musical, available now.
09:51Directed by Brett Sullivan,
09:52with music, lyrics, and book by Anis Mitchell.
09:56Starring Reeve Carney,
09:57Eva Noblesada,
09:59Andrade Shields,
10:00Amber Gray,
10:01and Patrick Page.
10:02Two hours and 22 minutes.
10:05A myth about love,
10:06doubt,
10:07and one impossible walk out of the underworld.
10:10And that's the complete story of Hattestown.
10:13Myth,
10:14music,
10:15and everything that's made this film such a genuine word-of-mouth success.
10:19If you've seen the stage show,
10:21let me know in the comments how this filmed version compares to being there live.
10:26If this recap helped you out,
10:28a like really does help this channel grow,
10:30and subscribing means you'll catch the next one as soon as it's ready.
10:34Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
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