New Virginia Woolf Movie Based On 101-Year-Old Classic Debuts To Rare Rotten Tomatoes Score

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A movie adaptation of a famous novel by Virginia Woolf recently launched on Rotten Tomatoes and received a very high rating.

Virginia Woolf was a celebrated author known for novels like The Voyage Out, Night and Day, Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, and Between the Acts. She also wrote numerous short stories and essays. Several of her books have been made into films, including adaptations of Orlando starring Tilda Swinton, To the Lighthouse with Rosemary Harris, and Mrs. Dalloway featuring Vanessa Redgrave.

The new film Clarissa, based on Mrs. Dalloway, recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and has received rave reviews, earning a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics are especially praising Sophie Okonedo’s performance in the lead role as Clarissa.

Reviewers have consistently lauded Clarissa as a powerful, beautifully written, and deeply affecting film. Special praise has been given to screenwriter and co-director Chuko Esiri, along with his brother Arie Esiri, for successfully updating a century-old story for modern audiences. They’ve been commended for directly addressing issues of colonialism, class, and the problematic racial stereotypes present in the original novel, rather than avoiding them.

Over the last three decades, Adrian Okonedo has appeared in a wide variety of popular films and television shows, including The Jackal, Hotel Rwanda, The Secret Life of Bees, Christopher Robin, Hellboy, Death on the Nile, and Heart of Stone. He’s also been in series like Doctor Who, Tsunami: The Aftermath, Oliver Twist, The Slap, Ratched, His Dark Materials, The Wheel of Time, and Slow Horses, among many other projects.

Sophie Okonedo received critical acclaim for her acting. She was nominated for an Oscar and a SAG Award for her performance as Tatiana Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda, and earned a Golden Globe nomination and an NAACP Image Award win for her role in Tsunami: The Aftermath.

The cast of Clarissa includes David Oyelowo, known for his role in Selma, along with Nikki Amuka-Bird, Fortune Nwafor, Modesinuola Ogundiwin, Jude Akuwudike, Danny Sapani, Joy Sunday, Joke Silva, India Amarteifio, Ayo Edebiri, and Toheeb Jimoh.

In addition to directing, the Esiri brothers are also producing the film alongside Theresa Park and Nicholas Weinstock. Neon, the distributor of the recently released film I Love Boosters, will handle US distribution. Clarissa marks only the second feature film directed by the Esiri brothers, following their 2020 film Eyimofe.

This filmmaking team has adapted Virginia Woolf’s classic novel, Mrs. Dalloway, setting the story in modern-day Nigeria. However, this isn’t the first time Woolf’s 1925 book has been made into a film.

In 1997, Marleen Gorris directed a film adaptation of the novel, featuring Vanessa Redgrave as Clarissa Dalloway. The movie centers around a wealthy woman looking back on her life while preparing for a party, and it received a 71% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Esiris have updated Virginia Woolf’s famous novel for modern audiences. Neon will distribute the new version, titled Clarissa, but a release date for either cinemas or streaming hasn’t been revealed.

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2026-05-22 20:31