Writers: Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell (based on the novel by Maggie O'Farrell)
Release Date: 9th January 2026
Hot Rating: 💥💥💥
Synopsis: Hamnet imagines the private tragedy behind Shakespeare's Hamlet, following Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and her husband William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) as they grapple with the death of their young son. Set in Elizabethan Stratford, the film traces how grief reshapes both their marriage and, eventually, the plays William goes on to write.
Review: Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's novel captures the weightiness of its themes, parenthood, grief, artistic endeavour, while also at times falling victim to its own self-grandeur. Jessie Buckley is truly brilliant as Agnes, fully committed to every aspect of a complex, grieving woman, and Paul Mescal offers strong, understated support as a young Shakespeare finding Hamlet within his loss. Zhao's direction retains the intimacy that made Nomadland so affecting, marking a solid return to form after the more impersonal Eternals. However, Max Richter's score can feel quite overt at points, occasionally taking away from the organic interpretation of a scene rather than deepening it. Where Hamnet is strongest, in its quiet, unshowy grief, it is genuinely moving, though its grander, more consciously prestige-picture instincts don't always serve the intimate story at its heart.
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