Jessie Buckley first gained attention as a teenager in 2008 when she finished second on the BBC show I’d Do Anything. She was competing for the chance to play Nancy in a stage production of Oliver! in London’s West End, and was largely unknown at the time, coming from County Kerry, Ireland.
Eighteen years after a life-threatening accident, she continues to prove her incredible talent. This past Sunday, she won Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards for her captivating role in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, significantly increasing her chances of winning an Academy Award on March 15th.
I knew from the moment I watched ‘Hamnet’ at the London Film Festival in October that it was Oscar-worthy. It truly deserves to win.
Buckley plays Agnes Shakespeare, better known to posterity as Anne Hathaway.
Though history remembers her as Agnes, and often as a minor character, she takes center stage in Zhao’s moving and captivating film. The movie is based on the highly praised 2020 novel of the same name.
Paul Mescal gives a great performance as William, but Jessie Buckley truly shines. We were lucky enough to have her staying nearby during filming, and now realize how much energy she must have spent preparing for such an emotionally demanding role. It’s a powerful performance without feeling overdone, and while Buckley is receiving a lot of deserved praise, Mescal is equally impressive.
We first encounter Agnes – her name is pronounced the French way, without sounding the ‘g’ – and she appears deeply connected to the forest near her village. People notice her as she walks through the woods with a hawk perched on her arm, especially a young man named David Wilmot, who is giving lessons to earn money and pay off his father’s debts.
Though he’s only referred to by name once in the movie, the man pursuing Agnes is William Shakespeare. They fall in love, Agnes becomes pregnant, and they eventually get married.
Her brother, Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn), doubts the wisdom of marrying a pale, bookish man, but the couple is deeply in love. They have a daughter named Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), and later, twins named Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe).
William is a loving and devoted father, particularly to his son, Hamnet. There’s a poignant moment when they say goodbye, as William needs to travel to London to pursue his writing career. His wife, Agnes, understands this, explaining that London is the center of everything happening in the world.
As William gains recognition in London, tragedy strikes home when Judith falls sick with the plague. Though she recovers, their son Hamnet dies at the age of eleven, and the rest of the film explores the family’s profound grief.
It’s easy to assume that losing a child during historical tragedies like plagues, war, or famine wasn’t as devastating as it would be for us today in the relatively peaceful West. However, Zhao’s film, and the actors’ powerful performances, prove that assumption wrong.
William used writing his play, Hamlet, to cope with his personal sadness. His wife, however, doesn’t have a similar way to process her grief. The movie powerfully concludes at the first performance of Hamlet at the Globe Theatre, where Agnes is watching. These final moments are incredibly moving.
Hamnet is a remarkable play that shines beyond its excellent direction (shared with author Maggie O’Farrell) and the strong performances from Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. The young actors are all impressive, with Jacobi Jupe particularly standing out in the lead role. The cinematography, by Lukasz Zal, is also exceptional – many of the indoor scenes resemble paintings by Rembrandt.
Chloé Zhao, who previously won an Oscar for directing Nomadland (2020), was presented at the London film premiere by the famous producer Steven Spielberg. She then surprisingly led the entire audience in a long breathing exercise at the Royal Festival Hall. While unusual, it offered a glimpse into how personally Zhao connected with and infused her beautiful film.
After all, as Polonius says to Laertes in a certain play: ‘To thine own self be true’.
A first-look review of Hamnet ran in October. The film is in cinemas now.
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2026-01-09 03:48