Hamnet (2025) — A Review
I have seen Chloé Zhao's Hamnet (2025) twice now and plan on watching it many times in the future. This is one of the best movies I have seen in quite a while, and I think it should win Best Picture.
There are so many incredible moments and threads featured throughout the film. It starts with the visceral birth of Jessie Buckley's character Agnes, clearly telling us (the audience) that she is one with the forest, already communicating so much about her character. One of the first times Agnes and Will meet, Will struggles to speak and stutters a little bit before Agnes mocks him by saying isn't he meant to be a wordsmith (At this point, all we know about Will is that he's a Latin tutor.) Agnes then tells Will to tell her a story that moves her. He then proceeds to tell the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. This story ends up becoming a pivotal theme throughout the movie, from the cave in the forest to the centre-stage exit during the play.
The hand holding is also a common thread woven throughout the entire film. Agnes's ability to see people's futures by holding their hands recurs again and again, and because we see her hold the hands of her husband and each of her children so many times, when Hamnet passes and reaches his hand out as he does so, you desperately want to reach out too. And when Agnes fails to take it, you don't just witness her mistake, you feel it as your own. It's a thread that pays off beautifully, but more on that shortly.
The first time we see Judith and Hamnet as older kids, they try to trick their dad by swapping clothes and positions, only for Hamnet to later pull the same trick on death itself, as a sick Judith lies in bed. Him whispering to himself "I'm brave," because his dad had told him to be brave before leaving for London, had me bawling my eyes out. That moment belongs entirely to Jacobi Jupe, who plays Hamnet, and it is easily one of the best child performances I have ever seen. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal are both extraordinary, but the younger cast members more than hold their own alongside them.
Now let’s talk about that third act. Holy shit. Mescal is incredible throughout the entire movie, but the scene where he's coaching the actors is astonishing, and the play itself is one of the best third acts I think I have ever seen in film. Every aspect of it, from the acting, to the score, to the cinematography. The initial shot of Agnes and her brother walking into the theatre gave me goosebumps. The way Zhao makes the theatre feel like the biggest room in the world is amazing. It felt like I was walking in there too, overwhelmed by the size and spectacle of it all. And then there is Noah Jupe, who plays Hamlet in the play, outstanding in every moment of that final act.
It's also where all of those threads pay off. The multiple shots of Agnes against the crowd, and when she finally reaches her hand out to the actor playing her deceased son, getting that opportunity she was denied in the moment her son was actually dying, I was bawling my eyes out all over again. And then the shot of Agnes turning around to see everyone else in the crowd crying at her "son's death," realising she is not alone in her grief. So incredible.
There are so many frames within this film that I think can, and should, be hung in the Louvre. The score is an outstanding piece of work, and Chloé Zhao could be earning herself a second Oscar this year. It's a stacked year, but anything is possible. It is a marvellous piece of work, and one I look forward to watching many times to come.
