Chloé Zhao has returned to filmmaking with a new project, Hamnet, marking a pivotal moment that explores feminine power in filmmaking through a profound lens. Zhao, who gained international recognition and an Oscar win for Nomadland in 2020, presents Hamnet as a work that defies the typical period drama conventions and instead delves deep into themes of vulnerability, nurturing energy, and spiritual metamorphosis.
After years spent wandering America to craft her first trilogy of films, Zhao emerges from what she calls her “cave” with Hamnet. The film, directed and co-written by Zhao, moves beyond linear storytelling, inviting viewers to reflect on the human capacity for change and resilience. With Hamnet, Zhao leverages her established directorial approach but flips the narrative inward, incorporating a raw and maternal presence that had previously gone unexpressed in her body of work.
Channeling the Present: Creative Tools and Vulnerability
Zhao describes her creative process for Hamnet as one rooted in present-moment awareness and openness to vulnerability. She emphasizes the importance of channeling rather than controlling the film’s creation, describing it as a process that demanded a delicate balance between conscious direction and allowing the story’s emotional current to come through.
We’re experiencing our tools to bring us to the present moment, moment by moment,
Zhao explains, sharing her instinctive approach to filmmaking.
So it doesn’t feel like we did it because it’s channeled. It came through us.
she adds, highlighting her belief that much of Hamnet arose organically rather than being meticulously pre-planned.
The directness and honesty in her working style required that she confront aspects of herself long left unexpressed. In her early works, mother characters and elements embodying feminine energy often remained unfulfilled or absent altogether. She reflects on the reasons, revealing how these facets of consciousness felt unsafe to inhabit fully as a creator.
My first three films, if you think about it, the mother characters, the kind of deeply connected to earth, to nature, this kind of powerful feminine energy that almost feels like nature doesn’t coexist—the mothers are either not capable or dead,
she acknowledges, delving into the personal growth and challenge of bringing vibrant maternal energy to her storytelling this time.
I actually wasn’t sure I could handle this character. To direct this character, create this character, I have to bring that part of myself out. And I wasn’t even sure I was ready for that.
Zhao admits, outlining the emotional threshold she crossed to direct Hamnet.
Metamorphosis Between Eternals and Hamnet
The span between Marvel’s Eternals in 2021 and Hamnet’s production wasn’t simply a hiatus but a necessary period of personal metamorphosis for Zhao. Her first decade of filmmaking across America as a Chinese-born director profoundly impacted her voice as a storyteller, with each project informing her understanding of identity, place, and spirituality.
I think the first three films changed my life — that 10 years of going to different places in America and getting to know America as an Eastern person and as a Chinese person,
Zhao notes, recognizing the immense professional and personal transformation.
What happened was that kind of pioneering, gathering treasure of the 10 years, making the first three films was bubbling inside of me so much. It was like a volcano, and it erupted, and that eruption was ‘Eternals.’
she says, recalling the moment her artistic vision shifted significantly. The aftermath required four years to recalibrate, process, and reshape these raw materials into Hamnet, a film that explores humanity on her own terms.
Collaboration and Emotional Depth in Hamnet
Hamnet’s production saw Zhao collaborate with a talented cast, including Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley, and breakout young actor Jacobi Jupe. Zhao sought to create what she referred to as a “container”—an environment where actors and audiences could collectively experience grief, loss, and transformation.
Jessie Buckley’s portrayal rests at the emotional center of the film, especially in scenes where her character faces harrowing tragedy. Zhao explains the intricacies of preparing for such moments and the necessity of relinquishing some control, entrusting both the actor’s instincts and the ebb and flow of natural emotion.
For Jessie to go into a scene like the death of a child, and to then hold attention of knowing who this character is, but also not knowing, moment by moment, what’s going to come through — only when you hold long enough that ‘to be or not to be’ tension does the answer arrive,
Zhao reflects, elaborating on how authentic emotion is captured.
And when that arrives in that scream, that’s not just her grief, that’s grief channeled through her, because she had chosen to be a conduit of that.
she adds, illuminating the immersive style she encourages among her performers.
Nature’s Influence as Creative Muse
Hamnet’s profound symbolism is heavily inspired by nature, which Zhao continually refers to as an integral member of her team. During location scouting in Wales, a void in an ancient forest served as a metaphor linking the timelessness of the Globe Theatre with elemental forces of life and death.
For Zhao, nature is more than backdrop—it is a guiding spirit that encourages catharsis and transformation for both creator and audience. The void discovered in the forest became a foundational visual and thematic element, inspiring key scenes and the language of the film. Zhao’s experience in Ukraine, observing dugouts and forest holes, further reinforced her belief in nature’s role as a unifying, equalizing force amid human struggle.
Personal Journeys and Storytelling Roots
Zhao’s journey as a filmmaker was not without setbacks—including financial and material losses during her early days—but she views such experiences as fuel for creative growth. Her debut feature, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, came about after embracing limitations and channeling resourcefulness.
Her fascination with detective stories and Japanese manga artist ambitions in her youth seeded an early sense of curiosity. Zhao attributes much of her narrative instincts to her desire to investigate and make sense of complex realities. References to influences such as Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together, Terrence Malick, and Werner Herzog point to her respect for work that balances rough truth with poetic connection.
The impact of her own experiences as an immigrant and outsider in America, as well as formative years studying at Mount Holyoke, continue to inform the character-driven, deeply human storytelling inherent in her films.
Transformation, Metamorphosis, and the Universal Human Experience
A recurring theme articulated by Zhao is metamorphosis—the idea that change is possible at any stage, prompted by both joy and sorrow. As Hamnet unfolds, it encourages viewers to see tragedy and adversity as a natural cycle, where new depths of strength and beauty can eventually emerge.
We are designed to have the chemical capacity to go through metamorphosis at any time, any stage in life,
Zhao emphasizes.
When there’s great tragedy, you don’t have to give it a narrative like something’s wrong. You can look at it like it’s winter, fall coming to winter, and the more one can sustain the discomfort of winter, the more beautiful and glorious the summer is going to be.
she explains, inviting viewers to interpret Hamnet as an exploration of endurance and transformation.
Viewers are asked to participate emotionally with the characters—a nuanced engagement that mirrors the filmmaker’s own inner journey toward embracing vulnerability, maternal energy, and the unfamiliar aspects of personality and creative intention.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Sequel: Bridging Generations
Alongside Hamnet, Zhao has been at work on a sequel pilot for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a project demanding a different set of creative skills and intentions. She describes it not as a reboot, but as a true sequel that honors original characters, brings back original cast members, and connects with both long-standing fans and new audiences.
Drawing on her own connection to the original series, she recalls the ritual of watching Buffy episodes with fellow students at Mount Holyoke, a tradition marked by anticipation and collective emotion.
Good luck to you, Buffy Summers, good luck to you.
she remembers, alluding to the weight of nostalgia and the high expectations fans have for this new chapter.
Zhao aims for the sequel to reflect fandom’s place in both the story and the real world, allowing different generations to see themselves on screen and participate in the legacy of these beloved characters and narratives.
Legacy, Significance, and What Lies Ahead
Chloé Zhao’s vision for Hamnet reflects a conscious shift in her artistic approach, centering feminine power in filmmaking as both a creative muse and personal challenge. Her readiness to excavate previously hidden aspects of self has resulted in work that asks long-standing questions about grief, nature, metamorphosis, and connection.
Her continued presence in film, as well as her ambitions within television, demonstrate her evolving role as a storyteller who seeks to bridge cultural divides, celebrate transformation, and encourage audiences to engage with the complex cycles of life and emotion. As Hamnet reaches viewers and the Buffy sequel prepares for its debut, Zhao’s influence on the next generation of cinema and television remains both significant and growing.
