Hamnet, 2025.
Directed by Chloe Zhao.
Starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal. Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, Jacobi Jupe, and Noah Jupe.
SYNOPSIS:
A powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Shakespeare’s works are known the world over, and his personal life has been examined before on screen, notably in Shakespeare in Love. Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet told a story not commonly known, that William Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway (Agnes here), lost their son Hamnet, and it was a huge influence on Hamlet. O’Farrell now helps to bring her own novel to life from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) in what looks set to be one of the major films come awards season.
As with the novel, events are heavily framed from Agnes’ point of view as we follow her initial interactions with Shakespeare as a Latin Tutor, repaying debts owed by his father. They begin a frowned-upon courtship and soon start a family. The novel jumps around with timeframes, but the story here is more linear, although retaining the pensive qualities of the novel and a focus on Agnes’ rural and somewhat feral qualities, something she tries to instil in her children.
Jessie Buckley is a force of nature as Agnes, glowing and light in her initial scenes before tragedy strikes. She captures Agnes’ shift wonderfully and is a spellbinding presence on screen. While the novel is more interior in its analysis of both Agnes and Will’s grief, it makes for a heartbreaking translation on screen and one that won’t leave many dry eyes. It is an emotional watch, but one that feels earned. Paul Mescal, never one to shy away from an emotionally charged project, is a perfect foil as a Shakespeare, largely before he became the figure beloved by the public and immortalised on the page and stage.
Chloe Zhao has previously captured wonderful vistas in the American west with the likes of The Rider and of course, Nomadland. Stratford and the countryside surrounding it brilliantly comes to life here. Cinematographer Łukasz Żal (Cold War, Zone of Interest), as with those previous works creates spellbinding imagery here, the rural and rugged landscape vital to O’Farrell’s novel and proving a vital asset in the translation. Max Richter’s score has come in for plenty of praise and save for a choice use of an existing track, only serves to deepen the film’s emotional language.
Hamnet sees Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal at the top of their games with brilliant support from Emily Watson as Shakespeare’s mother, a towering presence, and Joe Alwyn as Agnes’ brother Bartholemew. With so much of the story revolving around familial relationships, enormous strain is placed on the young cast, who rise to the task and some. Save for some slight changes to the source material, Hamnet is a stellar adaptation from Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell, delivering what looks set to be a huge draw commercially and come awards season.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Connor
