Chloé Zhao Hamnet film takes a profound look at grief and connection through the lens of Shakespeare’s family, with Jessie Buckley delivering a moving performance. The film, opening on November 26 from Focus Features, adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s novel with Zhao’s characteristic empathy and visual poetry, blending personal loss with the creative legacy of William Shakespeare.
Reimagining Shakespeare’s Family Ties Through Tragedy
Hamnet begins with a striking reminder—during Shakespeare’s time, the names Hamnet and Hamlet were considered interchangeable, suggesting a deeper link between the playwright’s lost son and his iconic drama. Chloé Zhao—renowned for works like The Rider, Eternals, and the Oscar-winning Nomadland—directs with a gentle yet powerful approach that reaches beyond historical debate. The core of Zhao’s adaptation is not William Shakespeare as a legendary playwright, but the universal experience of mourning and reconciliation within a fractured family. Even the screenplay refers to him by full name only once, highlighting the story’s detachment from traditional biographical confines.
Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, Zhao’s version of the Hamnet story looks at how a couple, torn by the death of their child and struggling with their individual ways of coping, can unexpectedly find solace together. The film’s structure revolves around this emotional journey, with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal inhabiting the roles of Agnes and William Shakespeare. Their performances, deeply attuned to Zhao’s vision, anchor the film’s exploration of raw emotion and healing.
Performances That Channel Grief and Resilience
Drawing from her distinct visual strengths, Zhao turns the psychology of loss into palpable cinematic poetry. Paul Mescal, familiar from titles like Aftersun and Gladiator II, finds a role that perfectly matches his subtle portrayal of vulnerability and inner conflict. As Shakespeare, Mescal portrays a man moving from passionate involvement in family life to growing detachment, especially as his focus shifts to writing and his emotional distance widens after Hamnet’s passing. His depiction varies from fiery frustration to deep, unspoken suffering.
Jessie Buckley, as Agnes Shakespeare, offers an earthy, intuitively powerful presence. Despite her deep connection to Stratford’s landscape—with its forests and soil—Agnes cannot insulate herself from the pain that lies ahead. Buckley’s performance reaches impressive heights, embodying Agnes as a “child of a forest witch” in the eyes of the townsfolk while also portraying a mother’s agony with fearless honesty. The film subtly but unmistakably centers on Agnes’s journey as she copes with both visionary foreboding and profound loss.
Visual Symbolism and Cinematic Depth
Zhao brings her signature blend of naturalism and introspection to the story, helped by Director of Photography Łukasz Żal. The camera often takes positions that suggest a spirit’s perspective, observing Agnes and her family with poignant distance. The film is rich in visual omens—Agnes’s prediction that she will die surrounded by two children is fulfilled with the birth of twins, Hamnet and Judith, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach and Olivia Lynes, respectively.
Throughout the film, nature not only serves as a setting but as a symbol for the emotional states of the characters. Agnes’s early scenes, lying at the roots of an ancient tree, and her work with herbal remedies and falconry, reinforce the idea of a woman deeply enmeshed in the natural world, yet not shielded from fate. Her connection to nature, though mystical, cannot prevent or undo the looming sorrow predicted by her own visions.
The Heart of the Drama: Loss, Distance, and Reconciliation
Hamnet’s central tragedy is presented in an intense sequence where pestilence threatens the family, with the young Hamnet, portrayed by Jacobi Jupe, ultimately dying as if taking his twin sister Judith’s place. The emotional weight of this event is heightened by Zhao’s ability to guide the ensemble cast into deeply resonant performances. Mescal’s reaction to his son’s death is noted as particularly striking, conveying devastation without need for grand gestures.
In the aftermath, William Shakespeare spends increasing time in London, dedicating himself to theater and distancing himself from Agnes both physically and emotionally. The film delicately avoids casting blame, instead focusing on how each parent copes differently. Agnes’s pain is twofold: the loss of her son and the absence of her husband. This dual agony shapes her trajectory and stands in contrast to William, who internalizes his grief and lets it drive his art.
Theater as Catharsis and Transformation
The film builds towards an emotionally charged resolution at the opening of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Globe Theater in London. In a crowded gathering, Agnes witnesses the play’s iconic melancholy, with the role of Hamlet played by Noah Jupe, older brother of Jacobi Jupe. This onstage performance, particularly the famed soliloquy—
“to be or not to be”
—William Shakespeare—sparks a realization in Agnes that her husband’s way of conquering sorrow is through creation and art, rather than emotional confrontation. Zhao’s script and direction avoid sentimentality, presenting William’s transformation and artistic response as authentic and affecting.
The use of Max Richter’s composition “On the Nature of Daylight” amplifies the grief-laden atmosphere without slipping into melodrama. As the audience at the Globe Theater bears witness along with Agnes, the connection between personal tragedy and artistic expression becomes clear—a link that binds the Shakespeare family and gives Hamnet’s memory a lasting legacy.
Significance and Lasting Impact
Chloé Zhao Hamnet film offers more than a period drama; it is a meditation on mourning, memory, and the redemptive power of art. By focusing on Agnes’s journey and allowing William’s emotional release to emerge through theater, the film engages the audience—those present in the world of the story and those watching—in a reflection on how we process and shape our own grief. The blending of poetic visual language, intense performances, and evocative symbolic elements makes the film a standout adaptation of O’Farrell’s novel.
With the film’s release, viewers can expect Jessie Buckley’s deeply affecting portrayal of Agnes, alongside compelling work from Paul Mescal and Jacobi Jupe, to resonate long after the credits roll. Hamnet’s dream of joining his father in the theater finds fulfillment in unexpected ways, as Zhao’s film transforms loss into a communal act of remembrance and artistic renewal.
Cast and Characters
The film’s cast delivers emotionally nuanced performances that underpin the story’s exploration of connection and resilience:
Jessie Buckley: Agnes Shakespeare—a woman rooted in the earth and memories of Stratford, whose journey through grief forms the heart of the film.
Paul Mescal: William Shakespeare—a playwright torn between ambition and sorrow, struggling to reconnect with his family amid personal tragedy.
Jacobi Jupe: Hamnet—whose sacrifice and presence transform his parents’ lives and Shakespeare’s work.
Olivia Lynes: Judith—the surviving twin, whose fate shapes the family’s pain and hope.
Bodhi Rae Breathnach: Susanna—the elder daughter, adding to the family’s complex tapestry of loss and survival.
Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet will draw audiences to cinemas not just for its historical intrigue, but for a universal story of loss and healing, realized by a visionary director and a dedicated ensemble of actors.
