Hamnet (2025)

Film Details

Director: Chloe Zhao

Run Time: 2hr 6m

Cast: Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, Noah Jupe, Olivia Lynes

Synopsis:

William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, celebrate the birth of their son Hamnet. But when tragedy strikes, Shakespeare is inspired for his timeless classic.

My Review

On the surface, Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet is a wonderful, tragic and complicated love story, but more importantly it’s a powerful exploration into motherhood and grief. Jessie Buckley is simply excellent, a performance that is so poignant that she alone can bring the audience to tears. This might be a story attached to William Shakespeare but have no doubt about it, this is an Agnes Shakespeare film and it’s all the better for it! The way in which Zhao forebodes the inevitable tragedy is a stroke of genius, utilising pathetic fallacy to provide an almost horror-esque tone that overwhelms the audience with a sense of dread and when the penny finally drops, you find yourself helpless, flooded with emotion. The entire cast deserves praise but I have to credit Jacobi Jupe who portrayed Hamnet, such a young actor and he drops an incredibly compelling performance that rivals that of his on screen mother Jessie Buckley.

From a cinematography perspective Chloe Zhao’s naturalistic style worked perfectly against the backdrop of the British countryside, an aesthetic that I absolutely love! The film portrays nature as this spiritual presence, on one hand it was this beautiful environment that worked in unison with Agnes, but on the other, it could have this haunting aura that loomed over the couple. I thought the pacing was pretty consistent throughout, with the second act being my favourite. Just as I thought the final act was showing signs of dragging, it dropped a fantastic finale that illustrated William’s way of dealing with grief perfectly. Hamnet is super impressive in so many ways, but the performances on display is what leaves a lasting impression and I hope that Jessie is recognised during award season and I’m a big advocate for giving child actors their own category too because Jacobi would be taking home gold! 

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Thanks for reading.

Film Review Club