Movie Review: Hamnet

Earlier in the year, I said the movies that have been resonating with me personally have been the ones that have an underlying optimism to them. These are the movies that aren't afraid to say that things may be terrible, but they won't always be and there is some positivity that could come in the future. I would like to amend that statement to say that there is a second class of movie that has also been resonant, namely the movies about processing trauma through the creation of art.

In this case, Hamnet falls squarely into the latter category, alongside movies like Sentimental Value and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. It follows the early life of William Shakespeare (may or may not be fictionalized, I didn't check up on any of this) and the impact of the death of his son Hamnet on the lives of him and his wife Agnes. This manifests itself in the form of the play Hamlet, also known as the source material for The Lion King.

By and large, the movie works because of how visceral the performances are in the scene in which Hamnet dies. Jessie Buckley is almost certainly a lock for Best Actress, Paul Mescal should get a nomination for Best Actor, and Emily Watson probably deserves a nod for Best Supporting Actress, all for this one scene. This scene alone at about the halfway point, locks in the emotional motivation for everyone involved so when we get to the end and see the performance of the play, everything clicks.

Chloe Zhao also solidifies herself as one of the best, most consistent directors working today. Every shot in this movie is beautifully composed, the pacing of every scene is exactly what it needs to be, and the performances elicited are some of the best from the actors and actresses on screen, even the child performers who play the children. She has yet to make a bad movie (The Eternals was good, I said what I said, fight me), and arguably, this sets her apart in almost a tier of her own.

It is also worth noting that not only does the lengthy sequence at the play function as Agnes and William processing their grief, but it also plays into a broader, more universal catharsis. By bringing the audience for the play into the moment, it allows for Agnes to get the moment of seeing the impact of her son on the lives of all these people around her. In the historical context of the Black Death, the scene of Hamlet's death means something to everyone there. The response by the audience isn't just for Agnes, they don't know who she is or what she went through, it's for the collective who all have known someone impacted and have had to live through this collective trauma.

Go see Hamnet in a theater, don't wait for it to inevitably hit Peacock. This is a movie that deserves the full, undivided attention that only a theatrical viewing experience can deliver. Hamnet is absolutely and unequivocally the best movie of 2025.

★★★★★