Directed by Academy Award Winner, Chloé Zhao, who also co-wrote the screenplay with the author of the book, Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet is a tragic story of a somewhat fictional version of William and Agnes Shakespeare. With a few historical facts closely aligned to the characters, the rest of this story takes on creative liberty and builds on a beautiful yet aching journey about the loss of their son Hamnet, and how this loss inspires William Shakespeare to write his famous play, Hamlet.
From the very beginning, it is made clear that this is not William Shakespeare’s (Paul Mescal) story, but Agnes Shakespeare (Jessie Buckley). We learn of her heart, her whimsical upbringing in the forest with her mother, and how peculiar she is, up until the moment she meets the charming Latin tutor – who’s full name is only mentioned in the last 10 minutes of the film. Amidst his family rejecting William and Agnes’ union, their love proves stronger as they persevere and fall deeper in love.
She bears his children; their firstborn Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and twins, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), and Judith (Olivia Lynes), who miraculously came back to life after she appears to be a stillborn. As William finds success in London, he travels back and forth between work and his home in Stratford-upon-Avon. Despite the distance, the family bond is a picturesque look into a happy home.
But from the moment that Judith had come back to life, Agnes had kept a close watch on Judith, afraid that her life was in constant danger due to her weak heart. So when Judith is infected with the plague, it becomes a race of life of death in the family. But what wasn’t expected was the plague taking Hamnet instead of Judith.
The rest of the film bears the weight of the unspoken grief between both Agnes and William and how they learn to cope with it.
Hamnet recontextualises Hamlet in the modern age and brings to life a new meaning to the famous play, creating conversation and buzz around not only Maggie O’Farrell’s book, but Shakespeare’s play. There’s especially an overwhelming sense of melancholy throughout Hamnet that makes the weight of Hamlet feel more palpable.
There are obviously some discrepancies with the prose and some use of modern language, which can be frustrating to some who desire a more historically accurate depiction. But for the most part, that can be completely forgiven as the heart and soul of Shakespeare’s words and meaning are in the story, whether intended or not. Shakespeare had the innate ability to bring his plays and poems to life through his colourful words; they sung a song and brought emotions to the surface, which is why his works have stood the test of time. In different ways, both the book and the film were able to capture the same type of passion and grief that are often seen in Shakespeare’s work, and you can feel the influence in Hamnet.
There are beautiful and quiet moments in the film that say more than words, all due to the outstanding performances in this film. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare like what you would imagine a yearning lover of words and life to be like. You can feel how art is a release for his passionate emotions, both in love and grief. Jessie Buckley completely captures audiences with her aching performance, depicting the hardships of motherhood and how experiences of grief can be overwhelmingly isolating. Jacobi Jupe’s innocent and sincere portrayal of Hamnet will break your heart, and having his real life brother, Noah Jupe play the titular role of Hamlet in the on stage play at the end of the film was a brilliant play to create a portal between life and death.
Hamnet is an honest and heartbreaking film that will no doubt stick with you for a long time – at least it has in my case. Up until this point, I’ve genuinely been struggling to find the words to capture the emotions this movie made me feel. In the time that I’ve watched the film, I read the book and I watched countless interviews to help me understand my own feelings from it. What I can muster up is that Hamnet is the type of movie that will leave you breathless and heartbroken, yet full of hope and awe at the honest and raw depiction of love and how grief is an extension of that love.
