An Oscar-winner for the lovely and introspective Nomadland, director Chloé Zhao is back in her wheelhouse with another visually lovely, emotionally intimate drama. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel of the same name (Zhao and O’Farrell have co-writer credits), Hamnet imagines how a great tragedy in William Shakespeare’s life might have inspired his masterpiece Hamlet. Its a gorgeous return to form that instantly wipes Zhao’s superhero misfire Eternals from our collective memory.
But be forewarned: Hamnet is an absolute weeper. About midway through the film, the story delivers a devastating gut punch that will wreck the audience, only to gently offer some relief at the end with an equally sob-worthy catharsis. Is this kind of emotional torture worth it? Absolutely. Just be prepared for a crying hangover.
The story opens with a vision of a young woman curled asleep in the roots of a tree. This is Agnes (Jessie Buckley), an earthy woman with dirt under her fingernails and a falcon at her command. Villagers whisper that she is the daughter of a forest witch. A young tutor named Will (Paul Mescal) spies Agnes walking near the forest and is instantly smitten. Their whirlwind romance is swift (and honestly, a bit rushed in my opinion). Next thing you know, she’s pregnant and they marry, despite their families’ disapproval.
Will is a writer and poet, and with Agnes’s full support he leaves her and their children to go to London to pursue his dream of becoming a successful playwright. His visits home are full of affection—and a touch of frustration from Agnes. Their separations are long, with visits few and far between. So it’s unsurprising that when tragedy strikes, Will isn’t there. When he rushes home only to find he’s too late, his quiet despair contrasts sharply with Agnes’s primal anguish and anger at his constant absence. She is aghast that he returns to London so quickly, leaving her to hold their family together.
And we’ve only made it halfway through the movie.
For a film about Shakespeare’s backstory, the playwright is very much a side character—his full name isn’t even spoken until near the end. Paul Mescal as the writer is, of course, wonderful. If you’ve seen any of his other films, you know he always brings sensitivity and depth to his characters. But this movie belongs to Jessie Buckley. Wow, what a role. Her Agnes is strong, fierce, and broken by a loss that completely unmoors her. The final sequence alone—just watch Buckley’s face—should earn her all the accolades.
By now you’ve probably realized that Hamnet is not a delightful romp like Shakespeare in Love. This is a movie very much about grief. I cried through most of the second half and found myself pretty much sobbing again at the climax. When Hamnet converges to become Hamlet, it’s an inevitable, yet intensely emotional sequence—a catharsis for the characters and the audience—showing art’s power to heal. I can’t think of another recent film that sticks the landing as well as this one.
