While tutoring in order to work off his family’s debt, William Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) sees Agnes Hathaway (played by Jessie Buckley) practicing falconry in the surrounding woods and becomes quite smitten. Although their parents disapprove of their engagement, the two get married and start a family, bearing three children, two of which are twins named Judith and Hamnet (played by Olivia Lynes and Jacobi Jupe) and Agnes is extra cautious of Judith given her herbalist heritage and psychic-like abilities which foretold she would only bear two children. While the family live a happy and healthy life, Shakespeare works in London as a playwright, Judith is suddenly stricken with the bubonic plague and is on death’s door, yet unexpectedly, Hamnet is the one to die. Hit with unimaginable grief, Agnes emotionally shuts herself off from her husband (who she grows to resent for not being their when their son died), and is quite insulted when she sees that his latest play, Hamlet, is seemingly taking their child’s name in vain, but it’s only upon witnessing the play that she comes to see the intent behind its creation.
Distributed by Focus Features and headed by Universal, HAMNET is extremely heartbreaking and runs with this downer attitude by adapting Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 historical fiction novel with an appropriate level of authenticity and harsh reality, but has just enough fantastical atmosphere, dreamy imagery, stellar direction, and truly remarkable leading performances to result in an overall very well-organized final product.
The original book offered a heavily dramatised account on a particularly bleak period of William Shakespeare’s life, and the choice to focus on the death of his 11-year-old son was due to O’Farrell feeling saddened by how he was ignored within most historical accounts and biographies, deciding to immortalize him through a very fictionalised take on the events that included references to some of Shakespeare’s most famous stories. Despite being one of the most well-known playwrights of all time, Shakespeare’s private life doesn’t have a lot of concrete information surrounding it, which has allowed for a lot of speculation when it comes to his family life.
This ambiguity limits the kind of cinematic biographies Hollywood can create but can allow for more speculative pictures that aren’t trying to pinpoint exact facts and rather meld reality and fiction in a way that can offer something truly unforgettable. The story of HAMNET contains a lot of semi-fantastical aspects and a neatly rounded story structure that feels too poetic to be entirely believable, but this blend of invention and raw realism makes it a very natural fit with Oscar-winning director, Chloé Zhao, who showcased through her past work on critically acclaimed movies like Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider, and Nomadland, an affinity for very naturalists stories that use cinematic ingredients to elevate the experience.
HAMNET has been very nicely adapted to the screen, with the script written by Zhao and O’Farrell having the same kind of low-key, in-the-moment feel but with a succinct and very emotional atamosphere that’s pushed forward through the ambient production, incredible performances, and very tight and spiritual direction which feels so meticulously planned and executed that it seemingly captures everything it hoped to achieve.
It’s not a movie or story that has a lot of depth to its characters or even narrative, largely sidestepping the specific thought-process someone experiencing such unimaginable grief would be feeling, and focuses instead on the idea of grief as a whole and how art can be used to process and even share pain. It’s not a movie that’ll hit everybody the same way, but the grief is pungent, the trudge towards the inevitable is so nicely handled that it still hits despite the outcome being literally preordained, and the ending is such a perfect encapsulation of this film’s themes, personality and heart that it’s the highlight of an already very strong picture.
William Shakespeare is still considered to be one of the great writers, and while his work has lasted the test of time, his very illusive personal life makes him an enigma that’s not easy to work out. You can tell this by his fairly traditional portrayal in this movie as a repressed creative who shows his passion through his work and feels a little adrift in the homestead, but while none of the roles on paper are necessarily deep from a writing or even emotional standpoint, the feelings they express are palpable thanks to the astonishingly strong performances.
Paul Mescal has continually showcased his abilities very naturally through his past work, and while not an actor who has a very strong persona or even much flexibility in terms of his parts, he brings a very vulnerable charm to this monolithic creative and clearly shows his theatrical background through how easily he performs these monologues. Emily Watson brings a sturdy commanding presence to her role as William’s mother, Noah Jupe does a nice job acting out Hamlet during the final sections of the story, and Jacobi Jupe is very strong as the titular Hamnet, having to say pretty adult things and deal with some pretty harrowing situations and manages them very nicely.
While the whole ensemble is pretty strong, Jessie Buckley is by far and away the best part, and does a fantastic job portraying a woman who doesn’t have a lot of history surrounding her, but will now be vividly remembered because of how well she’s been portrayed. For such a spunky and radiant personality, Buckley captures the repressed contentment of a woman from that specific Tudor period very naturally but still manages to stand out through her specifically coloured attire, herbalist presentation and verbiage, and incredibly raw and genuine expressions of pain and grief. It’s no surprise she’s the runaway star of this movie and is getting the most attention.
16th century England has been cinematically portrayed several times in the past, and HAMNET presents the typical iconography in a believable fashion but doesn’t forget to add a cinematic flourish to liven things up. The production design by Fiona Crombie (who has worked on many movies set within or around this time period) and the costume design by Malgosia Turzanska is detailed and decorated with enough clutter and muted colors to feel of the period, but the movie really comes to life whenever it takes place in the forest, as the lush greenery, open fields and incredibly earthy tones of color and ambient sounds bring an almost otherworldly presence to the picture that adds to the slight fantastical nature of this world. The cinematography by Łukasz Żal is expertly handled, and with Zhao helping to edit the film alongside Affonso Gonçalves, it means every angle, cut, and pan has meaning behind it and is executed in an incredibly seamless fashion.
The intimate, slightly shaky close-ups mixed with the wonderful still shots that’ll occasionally feature a slow pan when it’s not sticking with a truly striking image, forces you into the moment and makes you experience every sequence for how truly saddening and excruciating they can be. The sombre mood is further elevated by the music, with composer, Max Ritchie, providing a piece that has an elegant softness to it you’d imagine would pair well with a story about Shakespeare, but also evokes a sense of longing and tragedy that perfectly matches the subject material and really knows how to pull at the heartstrings when needed (although a sudden silence can also be just as haunting).
Watching a film about the death of a child is never an easy sell, and HAMNET is much slower, atmosphere-focused, and passive than his literary and theatrical successor, but most will probably be able to understand why the film is presented as such, and hopefully be able to take something meaningful out of it (thereby fulfilling O’Farrell’s original intent). HAMNET isn’t a film you’ll leave feeling good about yourself or like you’ve experienced something life-changing, but it’s capable of striking a chord if you’re willing to become engrossed by the ambient music, striking visuals, impeccable direction by Chloé Zhao, and emotionally powerful performances (especially from Jessie Buckley). May not hit as hard as Hamlet, but it’s a hypothetical that does justice by its namesake.
Editor’s note : This is the Guide’s second review of Hamnet. Richard Cotter’s review of this fine film was published on the 15th January 2026, and you can access this review via the search facility on this website.
