by Victoria Camarda
The 2025 film Hamnet, directed by Chloe Zhao and co-written by Maggie O’Farrell, is based on the 2020 Hamnet novel written by O’Farrell. Starring Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare, it dives into the tragic life of Shakespeare, his wife, and the loss of their young child.
In Hamnet, we meet the Shakespeare children, one of whom is a little boy named Hamnet who has a dream of becoming a performer. Before he can live out his dream, though, he gets very ill and passes away. Distraught with grief, Shakespeare and his wife start to grow apart and their marriage becomes strained.
For a gift to his wife and himself, Shakespeare decides to make a play dedicated to his deceased son but struggles to overcome his grief to create this dedication. Eventually, he puts on this wonderful play for his son, and Agnes laughs for the first time since Hamnet’s death. Their son has passed, but the play will live on.
The film itself was a tragic masterpiece, but the real prize was Jessie Buckley. Buckley’s performance was astounding and will be a topic of conversation for years. The loss of a child is indescribable for a mother, but Buckley was able to convey the devastation of it on screen. She was able to make such a deep connection to the viewers, which made the loss of Hamnet even greater. Buckley’s acting was truly authentic and inspiring.
The film also did a great job with the soundtrack, visuals, and the color scheme. The soundtrack was composed by Max Richter, and the song that gained the most attention is the one played in the closing scene, “On the Nature of Daylight.” I think Richter was a perfect choice to create this soundtrack; every song used added to the film and fits the tone well. The soundtrack to Hamnet was one of its most memorable qualities.
The film has a cool/blue visual while the only character in red is Agnes Shakespeare. This was strategically done to keep the viewers focused on Agnes and to show that she was seen as a sort of outsider throughout the whole film. During her grief over the loss of her son, we see the red color of her dress dim, which I thought was a beautiful small detail.
Hamnet is a tragic masterpiece that follows love, loss, and creation. Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell brought the novel to life in such a beautiful yet heartbreaking way.
