Hamnet Review
Anything to do with Shakespeare can make for a great story, depending on who’s behind the wheel. For Maggie O’Farrell, her inspired, if fictional, tale about the life and death of Shakespeare’s son took the literary world by storm in ways that extended beyond what could’ve been imagined. Now, O’Farrell’s romantically complex narrative has found new life with the help of Eternals’s Chloé Zhao, who infuses an ethereal aura into this somber piece. What results from O’Farrell and Zhao’s collaboration is a tragically emotional tale of familial woes wrapped in the almost-fantastical bravado of theatrics.
Hamnet presents the lives and struggles of a young Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his lover, Agnes (Jessie Buckley) as they raise a family together. When their young son, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) dies at a young age, Shakespeare becomes driven to write one of the most influential pieces of literature of all time, Hamlet. Coping with their son’s deaths in different ways, Shakespeare and Agnes’ relationship is tested to shattering extremes.
From the start, Hamnet does a good job making you fall in love with Shakespeare and Agnes, in part due to Buckley and Mescal’s chemistry. When Shakespeare first finds Agnes laying in that dark, yet calming, atmosphere of the woods, there’s just something about that first meet-cute that leaves you in awe. Perhaps it’s the lightly-sizzled charisma of Mescal’s Shakespeare when he approaches Buckley’s witty, if troubled, Agnes combined with the naturalistic magic of Łukasz Żal’s cinematography. Perhaps it’s Zhao’s envisioning of their inevitable troubles that makes Buckley and Mescal’s performance stand out.
Whatever the case may be, the elements certainly work in favor of Zhao’s vision, allowing the duo’s main performances to do more of the talking. Particularly, Buckley delivers a powerhouse of a performance with raw pain, lightly shown with tempered subtlety in some moments, with Agnes. She truly highlights the rational fears that Agnes has from O’Farrell’s original book, especially with excruciating trauma in the second act. When Shakespeare goes off to London to do what he does best, the focus on Agnes really allows Buckley to emphasize Agnes’ pains with a tough realism.
When the family dynamic fully kicks in between Shakespeare, Agnes, and their son, Hamnet, the film will truly make you devastated. Since Hamnet wants to be closer to his father, the tension between him and his mother propels Zhao’s understanding of O’Farrell’s story further. It’s that integral closeness that Hamnet seeks to have with his father, Will, that serves as this powerful catalyst for Shakespeare and Agnes’s emotional wedge.
These sequences are perfectly dark and grim, even if some moments of hesitancy between both main characters may overstay their welcome. Agnes’ folding into her own being does provide that psychological exploration of how longing has its benefits and detriments, though at a small cost. Some scenes, including those with Agnes’ children and family that are stretched out near the climax, may be somewhat forced. Still, these moments nail Hamnet’s tone nicely to keep you intrigued about the familial politics at play.
When everything comes together, including the harsh pushback from Shakespeare’s own family to how Agnes tries to do an incredible amount for her children up to the last moment, it’s painfully gut wrenching. Buckley’s heavy performance ties the emotional aspects of these scenes nicely all into a graceful, yet sorrowful, climax that sees Hamlet actually coming to life. Noah Jupe’s dramatic mannerisms in that final sequence really presents the family’s shared coping through his turn as Hamlet in a great way as well.
There’s just something about Hamnet that makes it feel otherworldly while still finding that grounding. As it does more showing than telling with Shakespeare and Agnes’ relationship, it simply allows that blossoming to feel realistic, even if it jumps a bit here and there. The visual and auditory elements that Zhao incorporates with her creative teams also just makes this entire film have that “folklore” aesthetic in a manner that’s certainly refreshing.
With Hamnet, Chloé Zhao delivers an overwhelmingly powerful adaptation that beautifully brings this heartfelt story to life, with the help of moving performances from Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. O’Farrell and Zhao’s collaboration with this film has not only created one of the most deeply empathetic films this year, but also Zhao’s most iconic film since Nomadland.
Hamnet releases in select theaters on November 26 with a wide release on December 12.
Rating: ★★★★
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Christopher Gallardo is a freelance entertainment writer and critic. While not running The Reel Roller, Chris can be found writing reviews and breakdowns on all things films and TV. Outside of entertainment writing, he’s currently taking classes for a Bachelor’s of Science with a minor in Digital Media & Journalism. Plus, he loves Percy Jackson, animated films and shows, and Fallout! Follow Christopher on Instagram & X.