A Midsummer Night's Dream (2017 film)

A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Directed by	Casey Wilder Mott
Written by	Casey Wilder Mott
Based on	A Midsummer Night's Dream; 1600 play; by William Shakespeare
Produced by	Fran Kranz; Douglas Matejka; Casey Wilder Mott; Joshua Skurla;
Starring	Rachael Leigh Cook; Paz de la Huerta; Avan Jogia; Fran Kranz; Ted Levine; Hamish Linklater; Lily Rabe; Mia Doi Todd; Charity Wakefield; Saul Williams; Finn Wittrock;
Cinematography	Daniel Katz
Edited by	Curtiss Clayton; Saul Herckis;
Music by	Mia Doi Todd; Saul Williams;
Production; companies	Empyrean Pictures; 5B Productions;
Distributed by	Brainstorm Media
Release dates	June 2017 (Los Angeles Film Festival); July 13, 2018;
Running time	105 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a 2017 film adaptation of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. The film is a modern rendition that relocates the story from ancient Athens to present-day Los Angeles.

Plot

The film follows the original play but is set in modern-day Los Angeles. Because of this, the film has minute changes to suit the new setting. Among them is the "rude mechanicals" who are depicted as filmmakers. Quince is now female and a romantic subplot is added between her and Nick Bottom. Duke Theseus is now a film producer with implied connections to the criminal underworld. The fairies are implied to be forest bohemians, though they still possess magic. Nick Bottom's transformation into an ass is taken quite literally in this version with his face turning into a butt, complete with fart noises.

While the film retains the original Shakespearian dialogue, it will occasionally add new dialogue, some of which reference Shakespeare's other works, for humorous effect.

Cast

Production

The film was adapted for the screen and directed by Casey Wilder Mott. The production companies were 5B Productions and Empyrean Pictures.^[1]

The film's original soundtrack, composed by Mia Doi Todd, features guest appearances by Tunde Adebimpe, Cut Chemist, Dntel, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dungen, and others.^{[citation needed]}

Release and reception

A Midsummer Night's Dream premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June 2017,^[2] where it received positive reviews.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The film was acquired for a theatrical release by Brainstorm Media^[6] and played at Landmark Theatres and other venues nationwide in the summer of 2018.

The film received generally positive reviews upon its theatrical opening.^[7]^[8]^[9] On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 65%, based on 17 reviews with an average rating of 6.4/10.^[10] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 67 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[11]