Hamnet
Heartbreakingly poignant, with stellar performances all round, Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet rewrites Shakespearean history with bewitching charm, giving one of the English writer’s greatest tragedies an even more enchanting and gut-wrenching backstory. In Hamnet, the roles of father and son are reversed – with William Shakespeare, suffering the loss of his child, embarking on an artistic quest to reconcile his complex feelings of grief and heavy guilt. Thus, the play Hamlet is born. On top of that is a fantastic love story between William and Agnes, an orphaned daughter of a rumoured forest witch. Their story is that of an artist and a creature of nature, and Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are breathtakingly electric in these roles.
Their romantic affair begins in the woods, and their journey is characterised by the connection they have to the forest. Even when William strays off to the city to pursue his dreams, they always have a reason to come back to that same place. Beyond nature, their children tether William and Agnes together despite their diverging paths. Agnes’s love for her children is evident, but she’s overprotective when it comes to Judith. This is specifically because of the difficult birth she endured with her twins, Hamnet and Judith, where the latter almost didn’t make it. Now fearing a premonition in which she dies with only two of her children at her bedside, she becomes excessively worried over her daughter.
Hamnet, on the other hand, is especially close to his father, hoping to one day follow him to the city. William also entrusts the role of the protector to his son, a chilling plot point that becomes even more pronounced when Judith falls ill while William is away. Hamnet, seeing his mother’s grief, offers himself up as a replacement for Judith in the arms of death. When Agnes finally comes to and realises she lost her child, her world is shattered. William’s arrival sparks tension between the two as she scorns him for his absence.
Mescal is excellent in the role of William. He perfectly captures the simmering emotions that most creatives suppress – his hunched shoulders representative of the burden he carries. He reaches his boiling point in a gradual yet graceful manner, and his sudden outburst is difficult to watch with the sheer emotion he exudes. But Buckley shines the most in Hamnet. The transition from her wild and playful nature to a subdued and bitter woman is an enthralling journey to follow from start to finish. Jacobi Jupe is also an understated star as the titular character. His father-son dynamic with Mescal is impeccable, adding that extra layer of pain for viewers. The sequence in which he makes the trade for his life is viscerally disturbing, and he nails the innocence of being a child and the maturity of someone who would make that decision.
The added visual flourishes in Hamnet are the cherry on top of an already remarkable feature. There’s special attention paid to the use of colour in the costumes, with Agnes perpetually in red, despite the stale blue that surrounds her, a mark of her ethereal origins. The cinematography focuses on the backs of both William and Hamnet, creating a parallel between the two in the way they leave their family behind, and underlining their deep relationship. Max Richter elevates the drama and heartbreak of the film with an epic score that captures the nuance of every character and emotion on display. All this works cohesively with Zhao’s direction, creating a lethal tragedy that can almost rival Shakespeare’s work.
Mae Trumata
Hamnet is released on 9th January 2026.
Read more reviews from our London Film Festival coverage here.
For further information about the event, visit the London Film Festival website here.
Watch the trailer for Hamnet here:
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