A film for the decade.
Hamnet was nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as one of the 10 best American films of 2025. But it didn’t win. Instead, a film about the insane violence of American people against each other received the Oscar for Best Picture. That was a film that began in violence and ended in violence. A shame, but very American.
Hamnet (nominated in eight categories) did win for Best Actress – Jessie Buckley. There were four other excellent actresses nominated, but no comparable performance.
For those of you not familiar with the story, it begins with the courtship between Agnes (Buckley – “I’m Thinking of Ending Things”), the daughter of a “forest witch” who is well versed in folk medicine, and Will Shakespeare (Paul Mescal – “All of Us Strangers”), a learned younger man who is the son of a glove maker. He entrances Agnes, who is better known historically as Anne Hathaway, and despite the opposition of the two families, they marry. Three children follow, but Will spends most of his time pursuing his career as an actor, poet, playwright, and impresario in London.
Then, when the younger twins are 11, the bubonic plague strikes. First sister Judith (Olivia Lynes – “Pylon”) is near death, but as she recovers, brother Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe – “Peter Pan & Wendy”) becomes ill, dying in his mother’s arms before his father can return from London. When he does arrive, he is overjoyed to see Judith recovered, only to be struck down when he discovers that Hamnet has succumbed. The death puts a terrible strain on the family, but leads to the play Hamlet – his father’s way of dealing with the tragedy.
The novel “Hamnet, by Maggie O’Farrell, took liberties with some of the known history, plus created much about the Shakespeare family, of which there is so little factual information. In doing so, however, she created a magnificent story of loss – one of the greatest fears of parentage – and redemption. As screenwriter along with director Chloe Zhao (winner of the Best Director Oscar for “Nomadland”), the two have given us a gorgeous visual poem of human strength and coming to terms with loss.
Not only is the story compelling, the acting is superb throughout, dealing with an excruciating subject without descending into the maudlin – an impressive feat considering one of the producers is Steven Spielberg. Also superior and worthy of an Oscar win is the cinematography, beginning with the very first shot which tracks down the trunk of a mighty tree and further down into the roots where, nestled deep within a hollow is Agnes, curled like a fetus within a forest womb. Even the music soundtrack is beautifully modulated; never obvious, never intrusive, and silent when the emotion on the screen calls for our absolute attention.
If you haven’t seen this film in a theater yet, it’s not too late. Reward yourself with this exploration of what it means to be human in a good way.
Runtime: Two hours, five minutes
Availability: Re-opened in some theaters; streaming exclusively on Peacock
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