After playing in the Marvel Studios sandbox, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao returns with Hamnet, exploring the love and loss that inspired the creation of Hamlet.

“Hamnet and Hamlet are in fact the same name, Interchangeable in Stratford records in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.” – The Death of Hamnet and the Making of Hamlet

Taking place in 1580s England, the story follows William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his whirlwind romance with Agnes (Jessie Buckley), which quickly becomes marriage and parenthood. With Will absent for long stretches in London and Agnes left to manage the household, the devastating loss of 11-year-old son Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) eventually disrupts their fragile balance and feeds into the origins of Hamlet.

It’s kind of funny—ironic, even. Eternals is still the only Chloé Zhao film I’ve actually seen on the big screen. I watched The Rider as a pre-SXSW screener in 2018, and Nomadland through NYFF’s press platform in 2020. Because of scheduling conflicts with the local press screening, I opted to watch the awards screener of Hamnet rather than see it theatrically. The film runs just over two hours, but I know myself well enough by now to recognize this as exactly the sort of Oscar-bait prestige dramas that never play well when I’m watching alone. Maybe that’s just me, but I tend to gravitate toward escapism and comedy—neither of which this film even remotely offers.

There’s no denying that Zhao is a gifted filmmaker, even if I personally would have gone with The Trial of the Chicago 7 over Nomadland. That’s just my taste. Whether Hamnet will spark the same critic–audience divide we’ve seen with some other recent festival films remains to be seen.

But I have to ask: why did they change Anne Hathaway’s name to Agnes? Were they afraid the actress Anne Hathaway was going to sue? It’s hard to take a film like this seriously when such an inexplicable decision is baked into the foundation. Why?! I understand the impulse to tell the story of Hamnet and how his death influenced Hamlet, but the film is relentlessly depressing—and at times so poorly lit that I briefly wondered whether something was wrong with my TV.

Hamnet is one of those films you’re either going to love or hate. In hindsight, I’m relieved I didn’t try to squeeze it into my TIFF schedule because, my G-d, this was pure torture. My issues aren’t with Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, or the rest of the cast so much as with the storytelling itself. Though, to be fair, I think I’ve developed something of an allergy to Paul Mescal movies, considering how many of them seem engineered solely for awards consideration. With that in mind, I’ll probably need to temper my expectations for the four upcoming Beatles biopics.

Maybe if I were a Shakespeare enthusiast—or a fan of Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel—I’d have reacted differently to Hamnet. But the truth is, this just isn’t my kind of movie. Even many Shakespeare adaptations fail to connect with me. Suffice it to say, I’m now two-for-two this week on films that premiered strongly on the festival circuit only for me to find them incredibly boring and unable to connect with the material.

In the end, Hamnet just didn’t work for me. It struggled to keep my attention throughout the film. The performances are fine, I suppose, but the story, pacing, and unrelenting gloom never grabbed me. Some viewers might connect with it, but I walked away bored and relieved it was finally over.

DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao
SCREENWRITERS: Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
CAST: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe, Olivia Lynes, Justine Mitchell, David Wilmot, Louisa Harland, Freya Hannan-Mills, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Noah Jupe

Focus Features releases Hamnet in theaters on November 26, 2025. Grade: 1/5

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