The Metropolitan Opera: Dead Man Walking (2023): Besetzung, Handlung & Streaming

Released in 2023, The Metropolitan Opera: Dead Man Walking is a notable film directed by Ivo van Hove.

What it’s about. American composer Jake Heggie’s compelling masterpiece, the most widely performed new opera of the last 20 years, arrives in cinemas in a haunting new production by Ivo van Hove. Based on Sister Helen Prejean’s memoir about her fight for the soul of a condemned murderer, Dead Man Walking matches the high drama of its subject with Heggie’s beautiful and poignant music and a brilliant libretto by Tony and Emmy Award–winner Terrence McNally. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium, with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato starring as Sister Helen. The outstanding cast also features bass-baritone Ryan McKinny as the death-row inmate Joseph De Rocher, soprano Latonia Moore as Sister Rose, and legendary mezzo-soprano Susan Graham—who sang Helen Prejean in the opera’s 2000 premiere—as De Rocher’s mother.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Metropolitan Opera: Dead Man Walking page.