Hamnet (2025) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUxakZerBOk

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Sometimes, the best way to get through grief is to make something out of it and a prime example goes to Hamnet. 


PLOT


Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s titular 2020 novel, the 2025 film takes place in the late 1500s and follows herbalist Agnes Hathaway who fell in love with William Shakespeare, a young man who pays off his family debt with tutoring. Although his mother calls her a witch for her line of work, he still sees her especially when it helps her heal a cut on his forehead. When seeing her again, he palm reads that he would have a successful future but would lose two children. Despite the prediction, he would still take her hand in marriage and they conceived their first born Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), Agnes would be disowned by her family. Shortly after their marriage does she give birth to her daughter in the woods. William would even stand up to his father John who would constantly beat him whenever rejecting manual labor. When his writing aspirations leading to writer’s block, Agnes suggests traveling to London with her brother Bartholomew for a career in theater arts. Around the time of his absence, she would give birth to the twins Hamnet & Judith (Olivia Lynes). The latter was briefly stillborn, but the second she gets to hold her, she awakes. As 11 years go by, William would be a successful writer and he grows close with his children to the point of tricking other relatives by having them swap clothes in playful fashion. Around the time Agnes’ pet hawk passes away, she foretells Hamnet will flourish whether or not he would join his father’s theater company. When William returns to London, he sees a puppet show depicting the outbreak of bubonic plague. At home, Judith would recover from it but Hamnet would die, breaking Agnes’ heart. William would too he heartbroken upon finding his only son dead, but would choose to cope by buying a large house in Stratford and return to London again. When creating ‘Hamlet’, he would be irritated of the cast’s flat deliveries. In despair, he would recite his play when leaning over a jetty on the River Thames. When Agnes is given a Hamlet playbill by her stepmother Joan, she chooses to join Bartholomew to London to see the play herself and see her husband. The first performance of Hamlet would take place at the Globe Theater and at first, she would feel offended believing her son’s name is being profaned. That feeling would change by the time she sees William play the ghost of Hamlet’s father that moves her to tears, understanding it is actually a tribute. William would be brought to tears backstage when spotting his wife in the crowd and would see the rest of the show from the wings. Agnes would be further moved to see a scene of his son’s creation come true that involves sword fighting and when the Hamlet character dies, she and the audience reach toward him. As that scene progresses, she would envision Hamnet on stage calling for him, just as he envisioned before he died. As he disappears backstage resembling the forest cave near home, the film would end with Agnes having her first laugh & smile since her loss.


THOUGHTS


Grief is a universal feeling because everyone processes it differently and it cannot be rushed no matter how hard one would try. O’Farrell perfectly describes this when first writing the book and with the assist of director Chloé Zhao, it’s all the more impressive onscreen. Malgosia Turzanska’s costumes were so great to depict its setting and as you become in awe of Lukasz Żal’s cinematography as every second passes, you’re able to feel this important understanding that having an artistic expression is a great outlet to process pain. And if there is no solution like so, then the process can only be harder. This is the mindset you pick up on when following the dynamic of William & Agnes who started out loving each other equally for respecting their kindred spirits that motivates them to keep on living as independent figures. Paul Mescal & Jessie Buckley had on point chemistry for showing all the highs before the lows like any realistic couple. The only thing that is different from the two is their grieving process since William wasn’t there when losing his son. With Agnes having to see her boy go through that last breath and live in a generation where she doesn’t have the technology to save him, her tears showed how unimaginably painful it was for her. Although there’s no proof of her giving birth to Susanna in the woods and Judith being temporarily stillborn, they’re both examples on how strong willed she was being a stay at home wife facing the world in what felt like on her own. Although Emily Watson made a compassionate mother in law as Mary Shakespeare who was there to help give birth to the twins and Joe Alwyn made Bartholomew stand out as a concerned brother who looked out as much as he could, it never felt like enough for William to balance life with work, which in turn made it feel their lives to be quite separate. Thankfully, one play saved their marriage as William showed how much he misses his son. It’s easy to put two and two together as there is only one letter difference between Hamnet & Hamlet and if that was William’s true intent no matter the speculation, his play does succeed in bringing generations of people on coping with grief like he did. There’s no proof either on if Agnes really did see the play in her lifetime, but if the climax proves anything, she would proud of how much her husband loved their son. With that being said, seeing breakout Jacobi Jupe as the titular boy be at the play in spirit and his older brother Noah be his play counterpart was straight up beautiful of a moment depicting what Hamnet could’ve resembled had he made it to his teenage years, finalizing the closure for his parents. Lastly, seeing the audience reach out to Hamlet gets to me more than it should but I’m proud that it does because that is a new prime example on how impactful any shape of form storytelling was, has and always will be for the generations to come. If I can feel something like that for a moment set so long ago, then I’m reminded how special it is to connect with people in this specific form of art. In short, Hamnet is one of 2025’s best films for continuing the modern connection that cinema remains going forward, earning the Best Picture Oscar nomination in the process. If your goal is to be moved with the arts, see this now.