In between his own Shakespeare adaptations, filmmaker Kenneth Branagh created this black-and-white comedy drama about a group of aspiring actors staging their own Hamlet production. Who would do Hamlet, of all plays, on Christmas? Apparently these losers will, mostly because they don’t have anything else. They haven’t gotten other opportunities to perform. But as these misfits, black sheep, and has-beens cobble up something together, Branagh’s script celebrates the craft, the bonds that form under the stress, and the hope that each production gives, even if it is just another Shakespeare adaptation. In the Bleak Midwinter celebrates the human need to create despite a lack of economic incentive.
Out of work actor Joe volunteers to help try and save his sister's local church for the community by putting on a Christmas production of Hamlet, somewhat against the advice of his agent Margaretta. As the cast he assembles are still available even at Christmas and are prepared to do it on a 'profit sharing' basis (that is, they may not get paid anything) he cannot expect - and does not get - the cream of the cream. But although they all bring their own problems and foibles along, something bigger starts to emerge in the perhaps aptly named village of Hope.
