“Hamnet,” directed by Chloé Zhao, may just be the best film of the year. It just won the Golden Globe for Best Picture, and the American Film Association named it as one of the outstanding movies of the year. As “Hamnet” continues to rack up nominations and awards, it proves time and time again the beauty and the strength of its storytelling.
There is a quality like no other to this film, as if it is living and breathing right along with its audience members. “Hamnet” tells the story of Agnes and William Shakespeare, their love story and the tragedy that came when losing their son Hamnet. The film follows the parents after experiencing one of life’s greatest tragedies and shows how it led to the creation of one of the most famous plays of all time, “Hamlet.”
“Hamnet” is based on the 2020 book written by Maggie O’Farrell. Zhao translates all of the best parts of the book and brings the visuals she is most well known for. The script, written by Zhao and O’Farrell, is beautiful in such a poetic way that it is so easy to fall in love with this story. The camerawork was phenomenal, and the smoothness and beauty in its movement, as well as the intentional placement of objects within the frame, helped to masterfully develop the story. The visuals, like all of Chloé Zhao’s work, were spectacular, mixed with a sensational score, it can make an audience member feel like they are truly living in this story.
One of the greatest tools used when creating this film was sound. A lot of time is spent in the forest and in Shakespeare’s birthplace, and the natural sounds make the film better. In the forest scenes, you can hear the birds, the wind and all the subtle and great movements of the forest, grounding the audience in the world of the film.
The costumes and set design were incredible as well. They were accurate to the time period and added to the reality of the film. The use of light and color in the set and the costumes also tell an interesting story if you can keep your eye on it.
“Hamnet” is fantastic in technical terms, but it is the performances that are the heart and soul of this picture. Paul Mescal gives a great performance as Shakespeare, bringing a loving and fatherly perspective of a figure so talked about but barely known. Hamnet is not the first role for 12-year-old actor Jacobi Jupe, but it sure is his greatest so far. He brings such a charm and wonder to the role. A sobering and yet darling fact about the casting of the film is that his older brother, Noah Jupe, plays a character that mirrors Jacobi’s later on in the film.
Jessie Buckley is a gift to the world of performing. She truly became Agnes and gave a beautiful and heartbreaking performance. Buckley just won a Golden Globe and a Critic’s Choice award for Best Actress, and they were more than deserved. To depict the joy, terror, anguish and bliss that comes with being a mother in the way she does is a marvel.
As a Shakespeare scholar, history nerd and poet with a bleeding heart, I have never seen something so beautiful and brimmed with an understanding of the human experience like this. This movie was a truly compelling look at grief and love with Shakespeare in the mix.
Out of all the things in this film, the final scene really did it for me. I have never seen a better depiction of why I find theater to be so important and moving. Seeing the way Agnes and the spectators of a production of “Hamlet” are comforted and connected to the story moved me to tears. If you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil what happens, but there is such a beautiful magnetism to this ending.
It is such a gift to create work that, in some way, connects you to others and allows you to exist in your humanness. I couldn’t help but think how beautiful it is that in his grief, Shakespeare wrote a play about his son and his own grief. And now the entire world knows of and loves, even in a small way, his son Hamnet.
The prediction is that “Hamnet” will be at minimum receiving Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress, but time will tell, with the nominations being released on the 22nd. And for those who wish to see “Hamnet” on the big screen, AMC Baton Rouge 16 is set to show the film January 23–28.
