To weep or not to weep? The lush ‘Hamnet’ sinks under nonstop crying and a dull Bard

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William Shakespeare wouldn’t be wowed by this domestic drama about his home life back in Stratford-upon-Avon. Where’s the action? The wit? The wordplay?

It’s difficult to compare any modern work to the genius of Shakespeare, and while Chloé Zhao’s film, “Hamnet,” aims to explore the life behind the playwright, it ultimately feels overly sentimental. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the movie focuses on a tragic love story and profound grief, perhaps to a fault. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare – referred to as Will throughout the film – and Jessie Buckley portrays his wife, Agnes (though historically known as Anne Hathaway). The film leans into the 16th-century practice of using interchangeable names like Agnes/Anne and Hamnet/Hamlet, which audiences will need to accept as part of the story.

The story takes place while Will was building his career in London, a time he deeply regretted because he couldn’t be with his child during a final illness. He channeled his feelings of guilt and sadness into creating a famous ghost story for the stage. But the film mainly focuses on Agnes, who spends much of it in tears.

As author Maggie O’Farrell points out, people cry in many different ways, and her book details several of them. Buckley’s performance is full of these variations – from sudden bursts of tears and deep sobs to silent, endless weeping. She even adds a few of her own, like a raw, desperate cry, a face contorted with fury, or a laugh that turns into a choked sob. While Buckley’s performance in “Hamnet” isn’t my personal favorite (I preferred her work in “The Lost Daughter”), its emotional intensity has many predicting she’ll finally win an Academy Award.

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The film deeply moves viewers with its honest look at love, loss, and the creative process. Collaborating with director Chloé Zhao – and with each other – was a transformative experience for the cast.

Most scholars agree William Shakespeare was a real person. Records show he married Anne Hathaway, who was older than him and already pregnant, and they had three children: Susanna, and twins Judith and Hamnet (played in recent portrayals by Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Olivia Lynes, and Jacobi Jupe). Beyond these basic facts, much of what’s been written about the Shakespeare family is speculation, based on very limited information – like the famous detail from his will leaving his wife only his “second-best bed.”

Stories have portrayed Agnes, Shakespeare’s wife, in many ways – as a woman who pursued younger men, a nagging wife, or even a hidden collaborator on his plays. But this new portrayal, in Zhao’s script, takes it a step further: Agnes possesses actual magical powers. It’s not just a cruel label applied to a strong-willed woman (though she certainly is that). She can seemingly predict the future by holding someone’s hand, much like a trick seen in the movie “The Dead Zone.” While her predictions aren’t always accurate, and she sometimes tries to change what she sees, she generally trusts her abilities. Her husband, who would later write about witches and fortune-tellers in his plays like “Macbeth” and “The Tempest,” finds her gift unsettling. He complains that it’s difficult to be truly open with someone who can already guess his thoughts.

Agnes’s unusual gift of perceiving time and space has strangely made her seem invisible to others. Actress Buckley brilliantly portrays a whirlwind of emotions – joy, confusion, fascination, and despair – flashing across Agnes’s face, making the performance feel incredibly honest and immediate. However, the character’s constant openness can become tiring. The story itself is straightforward, relying on basic, powerful feelings like desire, love, and loss. It almost feels as if the film believes Agnes is experiencing these emotions for the very first time.

Will, a Latin tutor, first sees the woman who will become his wife while she’s playfully running in a field with a hawk. The scene is beautifully shot through a window, showing her reflection on Will’s face – a contrast between her free spirit and his studious nature. Despite their differences and the disapproval of both their families, they are drawn together by their refusal to conform to village expectations. Will’s mother, Mary (played by Emily Watson), strongly objects to the match, declaring, “I’d rather you went to sea than marry this woman,” but her eventual change of heart feels very genuine.

Agnes’ brother, Bartholomew – a farmer played by Joe Alwyn – doesn’t understand what Agnes sees in Will. He questions why she would marry someone so pale and bookish, wondering what Will could possibly bring to the relationship.

Watching Agnes and Hamnet fall for each other—especially Paul Mescal’s goofy, joyful, and totally smitten expressions—made Shakespeare’s story feel surprisingly modern. It almost made me imagine what his dating profile would have looked like back then – maybe something like, ‘Playwright looking for an older woman, ideally someone into nature!’ The way their relationship starts in 1582 feels like stepping back in time, to a simpler era where all they had time for was falling in love outdoors. But as time goes on, their dynamic becomes more recognizable—he’s a writer struggling with his work and turning to alcohol, and she’s trying her best to support him, even if she doesn’t fully get what he does.

It’s tragic that the most celebrated playwright of the last five centuries is married to someone who seems completely uninterested in his work. There’s a moment where you question if his wife, Agnes, has ever even seen one of his plays, or even understands what a play is. If Paul Mescal portrayed Shakespeare as the charming, witty man described by his first biographer, John Aubrey, it wouldn’t be believable. However, this Shakespeare is presented as a quiet, unremarkable man, suggesting he reserves his brilliance for his writing.

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The acclaimed director, known for her work on “Eternals,” talks about her projects since then, including her adaptation of Shakespeare’s family history and a conversation she had with Ryan Coogler after he watched her film, “Hamnet.”

The issues with the portrayal aren’t Mescal’s doing. The source novel presents a similar character, likely because the author withholds the fact that this grieving man is Shakespeare until the very end – though the title hints at it. At least the film adds scenes showing him developing his plays. There are charming moments of his children playfully reciting lines from ‘Macbeth’ years before its production, and Mescal gets a nice scene reciting a ‘Hamlet’ soliloquy. I also appreciated the subtle tension created when Will returns home from London sporting a new haircut and earring.

The film has a remarkably realistic feel. The camera work intimately captures the characters’ home, almost like a documentary. When the story moves outdoors, the filmmakers beautifully convey the powerful, almost magical energy of nature – the forest feels so alive it’s like living near a busy highway. The editors purposefully left in small, seemingly imperfect moments – like a bug flying near an actor’s eye – to maintain a sense of authenticity. The film’s naturalism is consistently captivating, with only a few artistic touches breaking the spell, such as a shadow puppet scene illustrating the plague and a striking image of the afterlife viewed through a lace curtain, symbolizing a journey beyond the visible world.

The film’s score, composed by Max Richter, is gentle and features delicate piano melodies. However, it makes one significant misstep: the use of his acclaimed 2004 piece, “On the Nature of Daylight,” during a key moment. While a truly beautiful and emotionally resonant composition – so effective it’s been featured in numerous films and shows like “Arrival,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Shutter Island,” and “The Last of Us” – its use here feels forced and manipulative, jarringly pulling you out of the historical setting rather than genuinely moving you.

The most touching performance in “Hamnet” comes from 12-year-old Jacobi Jupe, who plays the role of Hamnet himself. The story quickly draws you in because of him, and he delivers a remarkably mature performance. He avoids the common mistake of child actors—and unlike his fictional parents—by playing his emotional scenes with restraint and quiet strength, which makes them even more powerful. Noah Jupe, Jacobi’s older brother in real life, also shines as the actor playing Hamlet within the story. Initially, during a rehearsal scene, his performance is intentionally shaky, allowing Paul Mescal to deliver the lines with more emphasis. However, on opening night, Noah transforms into a captivating performer.

Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” wasn’t entirely original. He based it on an old Norse story that had been told for hundreds of years. It’s even possible he was influenced by a popular “Hamlet” play that was already being performed in London before he wrote his version, or even by his own personal experiences. Over the last hundred years, “Hamlet” has been adapted for film and television over 50 times, with actors ranging from Ethan Hawke and Danny DeVito to Shelley Long taking on the iconic role.

I would have been just as happy watching the original actor perform again for this enthusiastic audience, who are seeing this version of the story for the first time. As Hamlet falls, the audience instinctively reaches out to him. The actor seems to gain energy from their support, and they, in turn, find comfort in his suffering. That single, powerful image perfectly embodies everything the film has been trying – and failing – to express about the emotional release that art can provide.

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2025-11-26 00:32