Hamnet Review

A popular bit of Shakespearean trivia goes like this: Did you know that Shakespeare had a son, named Hamnet, who tragically died as a young boy from the plague? And in the wake of his death, Shakespeare wrote one of the greatest plays in human history, “Hamlet,” the tale of a young prince who wrestles with the meaning of life before his own is cut down much too soon? Yeah, it’s all true. And this piece of Shakespeare’s personal history forms a chunk of Hamnet, the new film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s best-selling novel of the same name. Directed by Chloe Zhao (who co-wrote the screenplay along with O’Farrell), the absolutely gorgeous film may be named after Shakespeare’s only son, but it’s really about the deep, all-encompassing love of his mother, Agnes. As well as some (slightly less successful) commentary about tortured artists who bottle up their emotions until they can’t help but explode out onto the page.

You see, normally when we’re telling a story about Shakespeare, we all spend an awful lot of time talking about the man himself. And rightfully so, he is the greatest playwright of human history (at least in my humble opinion). But precious little is known about his wife, Agnes (or, more commonly known as Anne). She gave birth to three children, Susanna, Hamnet, and Judith (the last two a pair of twins), with only the girls surviving into adulthood. She spent her whole life in Stratford, first living with her father and brother on a farm and then living with the Shakespeares after her marriage. In his will, William Shakespeare left her his “second best bed.” What Hamnet – both the novel and the film* – aims to do is to flesh out her missing story. To explore what it meant to be an older, unmarried woman who gets swept into the story of someone who would become a god. And despite all odds, boy does this film manage to accomplish what it sets out to do.

*There is also a stage play of Hamnet, also adapted from the novel by O’Farrell, that premiered at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It is set to stop in Chicago and Washington, DC in 2026.

Agnes (played without the flash a role like this might tempt an actor to undertake by Jessie Buckley) is our entry point to this world. A free spirit who has earned the disdain of the townsfolk for her habit of running in the woods and communing with nature, she catches the eye of a bored and lost William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal, asked to hold back until the exact right moment when you finally get to see what has been driving this complicated man), the tutor for her half-brothers. Naturally, the pair fall for one another, with Agnes believing William is destined for greatness, and she is destined to die with her two children at her bedside. So, when William heads to London to try his hand at expanding the family business of glove making (he quickly gets a contract with a theatre company – you know where that’s heading), it’s a shock that Agnes gives birth to twins, bringing the Shakespeare brood to a grand total of three. Of course, as we’ve discussed, the couple’s only son will soon succumb to the plague, throwing not only the family, but their marriage, into turmoil.

The film has a host of Zhao’s expected gorgeous visual sequences. Agnes’ connection to the forest, to plants, to trees, to nature, is a constant element of the story being told. And Zhao uses close-ups to great impact, letting us watch the minor twitches and ticks on an actor’s face to understand the layers of emotion that are hiding under a calm façade. But it is those actors who truly take this story and these visuals and drive them into the stratosphere. Mescal has never been more effective that he is here. And he has the harder job of our two leads, as Will is often out in London (we do see him there, alone). He’s strong, loving (especially toward his children), and broken at various points throughout the story. Rather than make him a tortured artist through and through (there’s one drunken outburst that is less compelling than annoying), Zhao and O’Farrell make sure we see that he does love Agnes and his family – and that he’s trying to balance his success with them living a day’s ride away. But he doesn’t get to truly break under the strain of everything falling upon him until the closing moments of the film. And it’s so impactful when he does.

And then there’s Buckley. I have no doubt she’s going to win an Academy Award for this performance. It’s hard to find the words to express just how complete it is. A mother who loses a child can easily devolve into a mess of overly emotional dreck. Excessive crying, screaming, gnashing of teeth. And then a numbness. Buckley imbues Agnes with so much life at the start of the film – when we see her joy with her family, her deep sense of loss from her own missing mother, her desire to ensure that her premonition is, somehow, wrong. We understand this woman. We care about this woman. We want to see her succeed – especially because we all know her husband’s story already. And when we realize she’s going to lose her son despite everything? We grieve with her. We want to help her through her pain, to help her to heal. To get an audience so fully enmeshed with your performance is not an easy thing. But Buckley is just so engaging, so real, so raw, that you cannot help but want to go on this journey with her, even though we know it’s going to be incredibly painful for us all. And when she’s called upon to show us the despair of losing a child? Well, she delivers. It’s visceral. It’s real. It’s not too much.

Of course, a film about Hamnet wouldn’t be so without the titular character and in young Jacobi Jupe* Zhao has found a truly exceptional young actor. Full of life, mesmerizing on screen, Jupe holds his own and doesn’t fall into the traps so many young actors do. He’s a kid. We believe he’s a kid. And we delight in the joy he finds in life as a kid. Similarly, Olivia Lynes and Bodhi Rae Breathnach (as Judith and Susanna Shakespeare) are wonderful in their roles. Both are asked to do some tough scenes in this film and both rise to the occasion with aplomb. Zhao’s direction of the children – another potential mine field – is masterful, never asking them to be too adult and making sure to capture their child innocence as well as the moments when that innocence disappears.

*Jacobi Jupe’s older brother, Noah, appears in the film as Hamlet in the staging of the first production of the play. Unfortunately, Noah’s take on the Prince of Denmark leaves a lot to be desired and is one of the few missteps within the film.

Hamnet is an incredibly well-made film. It’s also an incredibly hard film to watch from an emotional standpoint. While I highly recommend it – whole-heartedly – I also recognize that a film like this, which unflinchingly confronts the loss of a child, is not going to be for everyone. But if this is a story your think you can manage, the experience of this film – the performances within it, the visuals captured, and the exploration of humanity that takes place within this story – is more than worth a trip to the cinema.

Hamnet will receive a limited release on November 26 and a wide release in the US on December 12. It will be released in the UK on January 9, 2026. This film was screened at the Chicago International Film Festival.