Hamnet – British Film Festival Review
After her mixed-reception endeavour into Marvel Cinematic Universe territory with Eternals, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloe Zhao’s (Nomadland) returns with her fifth feature film, Hamnet – an adaptation of the same-named novel by Maggie O’Farrell which depicts the traumatic event that inspired William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) to write the play Hamlet, and how he and his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley) navigated their family through this difficult time.
Hamnet spends the first hour developing the relationship between Agnes and William, starting out from their first encounter in a forest where William watches Agnes summon a hawk to her falconry glove, prompting him to question her about the rumours that she is the daughter of a forest witch. Despite their awkward beginnings, the two soon fall for each other as William regales Agnes with stories, and Agnes foretells his future as being a great writer.
Before long, Agnes is pregnant and the two marry, much to the behest of their families. As William often travels away to write and produce plays in London, Agnes is left to raise their three children alone. But, when tragedy strikes, the two must navigate their love, family, and grief in the most unexpected of ways.
Once again utilising nature and scenery (something that is often heavily featured in her previous film), Zhao emphasises characters’ connection with nature, and the symbiotic, cyclical relationship that connects emotion with the natural world around us. The narrative is heavily focused on Agnes – this is much more her story than it is the story of William Shakespeare – and her connection with nature, be it the hawks she trains, the physical connection she uses to foretell futures, even to the extent of having her first child in the forests she roamed when first meeting Willam. The connection between emotion and nature is an incredibly present force in the film.
It also lends to some truly stunning cinematography. Lukasz Zal, best known for his recent work on The Zone of Interest and Cold War, shoots the film with such a powerful stillness, wide enough to capture the beauty of the world around Agnes and William as they first fall in love, and then intimately enough for the audience to feel just as connected and enraptured. There are no dynamic, big moving shots, rather the frame captures a painting-like beauty, and allows the actors to encapsulate the frame like its own unique world. Colour and lighting is also heavily emphasised to convey the feelings of the characters. The sunlight brushing of the greenery makes you feel warmth, while the coldness and staleness of winters and dilapidated houses prepare you for the upcoming heartbreak.
The narrative takes place over many years (even over a decade towards the end of the film), and rather than having scenes and moments flow in a more traditional sense to tell the story, Zhao seamlessly flows from significant moment to moment, interspersed with some entrancing dream-like imagery that showcases this somewhat supernatural element to Agnes and her connection to nature and people. Each scene, patiently paced and often extended, manages to provide an immense amount of narrative and emotionally contextual information to engage with the story, and is absolutely phenomenal writing. The dialogue is pitch perfect too, with lengthy monologues and conversations that hold an immense amount of emotional weight.
There is an authenticity that comes through Buckley and Mescal’s performances that immerses you into Agnes and William’s love, and then rips out your heart as the story unfolds. There is a solid balance of period-era showiness that is expected in a film like this. There are “big” acting moments, a lot of intense emotion, and moments that feel more “movie-like” than “real life”. However, it’s the authenticity that these characters are performed with by the leads that allows for those moments to work and really captivate. It’s impossible to not be completely pulled in and torn apart emotionally, especially by the powerhouse performances of Buckley, who shines from the nuanced and quiet opening moments, to the brutally emotional ending.
The final 30 minutes of Hamnet is truly fantastic filmmaking. The emotional pay off, told in a wonderfully artistic way, blending the human elements and supernatural tendencies flawlessly, is undoubtedly going to bring many tears to many eyes. It’s not just devastation, it’s not just grief, but it’s the acceptance and unbreakable connection that Agnes has to nature and William to art that is so beautifully explored in these final moments. As much as there is heartbreak in the tragedy that fuels the third act of Hamnet, there is a beautiful reminder of how our connections last well after life, through memory and art.
Hamnet is brilliant on many levels. It’s a technically outstanding and beautiful film from Zhao, with an emotional and intimate narrative brought to life by incredible performances, with Jessie Buckley standing out as the true powerhouse of the film.
Hamnet played at the 2025 British Film Festival, and is in Australian cinemas January 15
