Hamnet

TIFF REVIEW: BY DARREN ZAKUS

November 25, 2025

 4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

Hamnet is truly a majestic achievement in cinematic storytelling by Chloé Zhao that explores unspeakable grief, loss and tragedy on the most human level imaginable that will leave audiences both drenched in tears and moved in a manner in which words cannot describe, but it is the staggering performance of Jessie Buckley in the lead role that is the unforgettable spark that makes Hamnet a must see motion picture event!

Hamlet may be the most well known piece of fiction in the entire world, with William Shakespeare’s legendary play still being taught in schools around the world centuries after its writing, and forming the basis for countless adaptations on both the screen and stage. The line “to be, or not to be, that is the question,” may just be the most famous line of literature in the entire English language, but what is the story behind Hamlet? What led William Shakespeare to write this legendary play? That is the question that Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, which serves as the basis for Chloé Zhao’s latest film, attempts to provide an answer to while telling a fictionalized account of William Shakespeare’s family life with his wife Agnes, and how a tragedy that fell upon their family inspired him to write Hamlet. Zhao’s film is a heartbreaking, devastating and deeply human story on its own, expertly crafted across the board as with her previous films, but it is the breathtaking performance of Jessie Buckley, that is one of the year’s finest performances by an actor, that cements Hamnet as one of the year’s best films.

With a screenplay written by O’Farrell and Zhao together, what unfolds over the film is an intimate and deeply moving portrayal of William and Agnes’s life as they first meet and begin their life together, and later moving years further into their relationship when their family has grown to include their children. In the exploration of Agnes and William’s relationship and their relationship with their children, the passing of their child Hamnet emerges and acts as a catalyst to the creation of Hamlet, building on a long suspected inspiration that Shakespeare historians have long cited as a factor in the creation of Hamlet. It draws the inference due to the interchangeability of the names Hamnet and Hamlet during that time era, and the shift from William writing comedies to tragedies in the years after his son’s passing, but O’Farrell and Zhao instead of focusing on these two facts, turn their attention to how this event affected Agnes and William, delivering a human story that any viewer can emotionally relate to but hopes they will never have to experience themself.

Watching a film revolving around the death of a child seems unbearable and is not an easy film to recommend based on its subject matter, but there is an ethereal tone that O’Farrell and Zhao write the screenplay with that creates one of the most emotionally resonant films of the year. With many moments of stillness and capturing a slice of life within the days of the Shakespeare family, the screenplay allows the visceral power of Zhao’s visual filmmaking and Łukasz Żal’s striking cinematography to take over and give Buckley and Mescal the space to truly inhabit their characters and develop the powerful emotions of Agnes and William in their performances. Max Richter’s musical score is subdued, channeling a spiritual tranquility that allows the emotions of the story to be highlighted with its more somber long tones to emulate the emotional states of Agnes and William, and its piercing brass sounds to evoke the gravity and crippling loss of the story. Though, it is the use of Richter’s most famous composition “On the Nature of Daylight” in the film’s final scene that works wonders, elevating the story’s conclusion and helping to deliver a transcendent, out of body experience. None of this makes the scene of Hamnet’s passing away any less devastating to watch, as the writing and direction of that scene itself packs an immense gut punch to the audience’s emotions and will leave them broken after that shocking moment, forever haunted by the screams of Buckley, but the grief and mourning is told with such a delicacy by Zhao that the overwhelming tragedy at the heart of the story never overpowers the love within the Shakespeare family which is the story’s beating heart.

As devastating of a watch Hamnet is, the film’s final sequence is a true work of art and one of the best conclusions to any film this decade. Zhao’s direction of this pivotal moment for both Agnes and William is masterful, delivering a grand moment in scale that transcends filmmaking, blending the power of live theatre and cinematic storytelling to conjure up an unforgettable sequence that viewers will remember for the rest of their lives. The set recreating the Globe Theatre is a staggering piece of construction that captures every essence of that historic theatre, that combined with the open air nature of the building, truly allows Zhao’s storytelling and Buckley’s performance to reach to the heavens and create an immersive experience that will endlessly tug on audience’s heartstrings as the story reaches its cathartic conclusion.

If there is one thing that you won’t ever forget about Hamnet outside of its phenomenal final sequence, it is the lead performance of Buckley. As Agnes Shakespeare, Buckley delivers the defining performance of her career as she guides the audience through this story of the Shakespeare family. From the headstrong young woman who falls for William and their tender romance, the love of her young children as their family grows, and amazement with the wonders of the natural world, Buckley brings a warmth and compassion to the film that invests the audience in the Shakespeare family while helping to set the stage for the story’s second half. After tragedy strikes their family, in one of the most gut wrenching scenes of the entire year, Buckley’s rawness and the bloodcurdling pain she portrays is beyond comprehension, rattling viewers to their core. Building from this unspeakable pain, the quiet intensity and mourning that Buckley develops within Agnes never for a second feels like a performance, but a completely transformative presence that leaps off the screen. Though, it is in the film’s final sequence where Buckley transcends the screen with a magnificent catharsis release of Agnes’ mourning and pain, giving an entire new meaning to the phrase “tour de force” that not only solidifies her work in Hamnet as the best performance of the entire year and hopefully securing her her first Academy Award, but delivers the most emotionally resonant sequence of the year that guarantees there won’t be a dry eye in the audience.

Buckley is performing at a level all to herself, one that cannot be reached by any other member of the cast (or frankly actor this year in any other film), but that does not mean that the supporting performances in Hamnet are weak by any means. In fact, they are all excellent. Paul Mescal is brilliant as William Shakespeare, bringing to life the legendary playwright with a compassion and strength, but also with a painstaking grief as he processes the loss of his son through his writing, even at the cost of abandoning his wife and family. While sharing the screen with Buckley, Buckley and Mescal are mesmerizing and deliver powerful moments throughout the film, whether it be the undeniable love and respect between their characters in the film’s first half, or the heart wrenching distance between them after the loss of Hamnet. Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn are both great as Mary Shakespeare and Bartholomew Hathaway, Noah Jupe leaves has a powerful effect on the entire film as the actor portraying Hamlet in a single yet pivotal scene, though it is Jacobi Jupe who shines amongst all the supporting performances as Hamnet Shakespeare with a soulful and spirited performance that captures the heart of both his parents and the audiences, ensuring that his death is a devastating blow that the characters and audience won’t soon recover from.

Even months after seeing the film at the Toronto International Film Festival, the sheer emotional power of Hamnet still lingers as the exploration of grief, loss and love by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell is unlike anything viewers have experienced on the big screen before. From a brilliant direction and visual storytelling, Chloé Zhao conjures up an immersive experience that surrounds audiences in the grief and emotional devastation of the story but also allows the film to reach staggering heights that transcend the screen to deliver a cathartic release of loss, all built around a tour de force performance from Jessie Buckley. Creating an out of body yet grounded experience that only Chloé Zhao could direct with such masterful care and resonant storytelling, Hamnet is a whirlwind of love, grief, love, loss and healing that sweeps audiences away, anchored by the sensational performances of its cast and a career best performance from Jessie Buckley that will take your breath away and leave audiences in tears but with their souls nourished for the better.