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Dir/co-Wri: Chloe Zhao | Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Zac Wishart, Emily Watson | UK Drama 125′. 2025
William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most well-known writers, but have you ever wondered about his own life story? The new film gives an insight. Hamnet is an imagined drama about how Shakespeare and his wife met and came to terms with tragedy and stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, who has won a GOLDEN GLOBE for her performance, and sees Chloe Zhao at the top of her directing career.
Adapted from the 2020 novel by Maggie O’Farrell, who also co-writes, Hamnet is seen through the eyes of Agnes (Jessie Buckley), a visionary country girl who sleeps in the woods and is endowed with mystical qualities. Attuned to the animal kingdom she is considered a witch by the locals, setting the tone for an intuitive and intriguing love story where Agnes meets William (Paul Mescal), also a loner and at odds with his domineering father. Despite the 16th century setting there are relatable elements to this couple’s story.
In the verdant vales of Warwickshire, where William is the local tutor, a tentative romance soon catches fire, and the two marry and have three children: Eliza, the eldest, and twins Judith and Hamnet, a boy. Judith is the weaker one, and being the 16th century, Agnes fears for her survival into adulthood. While Agnes keeps the home fires burning, William is creatively ambitious and drawn to the big city hoping to make his name and fortune – and we all know how that turned out.
These frequent trips to London put pressure on the couple’s family life, and although Agnes has support from her brother Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn), what happens next will really test the strength of their marriage. William once again returns to London seeking solace by writing his iconic play ‘Hamlet’, while Agnes is left alone to process her grief becoming resentful and angry with his lack of solidarity. Touched by his sister’s grief, Bartholomew decides to take his sister to see William’s new play. The action moves from Stratford to the City of London where we finally realise the scope of this cleverly scripted story and experience the bard’s work live at the Globe theatre, and how his art is very much a vital part of life, not just a creative distraction. England has never been so beautiful as depicted in this sumptuous modern classic with its evocative scenes of village life and the bosky surrounding countryside. DoP Łukasz Żal takes his time to picture it all in vibrant colours capturing every detail of the couple’s sublime happiness, abject sorrow and tumultuous anger.
