Hamnet (2025)

Hamnet is one of the films being talked about for Oscar consideration but even before that there was something about this film that made me want to check it out. The film tells the story of the relationship between Agnes Shakespeare (Jessie Buckley) and Willam Shakespeare (Paul Mescal). The film is directed by Chloé Zhao who did a great job of directing Nomadland and then almost undid that good will with one of the dullest Marvel films Eternals. Thankfully Zhao is back on good form with this film. One thing that I was concerned about was that it was going to involve William Shakespeare and I must confess that I think that Shakespeare is overrated. The way people drool over the way he speaks is bizarre to me. His stories are very good but people seem to value the words and style of his speech over everything else.

The thing to note is that Paul Mescal is not really in the first half and Jessie Buckley gets to own the film but once Hamnet dies then he becomes part of the story. Jessie Buckley is brilliant and she would totally deserve her Oscar and Bafta wins should she get them. Hopefully The Bride doesn’t Norbit her Oscar chances. The grief that she shows when Hamnet dies is something very harrowing and hard to ignore. Even if you are not a parent you would have to be made of very stern stuff not to be moved by those scenes. Jacobi Jupe was very good as Hamnet and this is the second film in succession that I have seen a very good child actor (Shannon Mahina Gorman in Rental Family being the other example). Part of the reason why his death is so powerful is that you end up liking him as he becomes the man of the house when William is away in London. The way that he also wants to get his sickness passed on to him to cheat death is such a selfless action that it would be hard to really hate him for the borderline stupid action that it is.

My only real issue with the film is that it assumes you know the story of William Shakespeare and his personal story (I didn’t) so the film does introduce characters. I know that this is a true story in the loosest sense of the word but the people around are true but were complete strangers to me. The problem starts straight away when we see Joe Alwyn sitting in a chair not knowing what his character's name is or that he is playing Agnes' brother. This little tidbit isn't revealed until the next scene a couple of minutes later. Another example is when Shakespeare's father disappears after William stands up to him and he’s never mentioned.The woman who is like a mother figure to Agnes but isn’t appears at the beginning but when she returns about an hour later looking completely different (at least a decade has passed) I had forgotten who she was.

Despite the issues with the screenplay and the introduction of characters, this is easily my favourite film of the year (although that list is only three films long at the moment). The performances are really strong with Buckley and Mescal deserving top praise but the script does let it down. Zhao does a great job with directing as the house looks amazing and the surrounding woodland looks magical. There are some shots where the camera just sits far away and allows the story to unfold and for us to observe that and in this era of modern filmmaking, its a rare thing to just be able to appreciate what you are seeing on screen.