Hamnet will hit you in the feelings
Hamnet is a film that slowly grows into a full-body ache, the kind that doesn’t ask permission. .
Plot Summary of Hamnet (Spoiler-Free)
Hamnet follows the early marriage of William Shakespeare and Agnes Hathaway, long before he became the legendary playwright we attach to high school English classes and quotes we pretend to understand.
The film shows them meeting in Stratford, building a home, raising their children, and trying to make sense of each other’s quirks, dreams, and shortcomings.
Instead of focusing on Shakespeare as a literary icon, the movie digs into the daily rhythms of their life, the small gestures that create a family, and the cracks that start to form when William feels pulled toward London while Agnes tries to hold their world together at home.
Hamnet: Is It Worth Watching?
Yes, Hamnet is worth watching, but only if you’re ready to sit with a slow, emotional story, so if your idea of a good night is rewatching something fast and loud just so you don’t have to think, then Hamnet will put you into a philosophical coma.
The movie’s approach to Shakespeare’s life is what won me over, as so many Hamnet movie reviews I have read got stuck comparing it to historical accuracy, but I think that misses the whole point.
This film doesn’t care about checking facts off a list, as it cares about the people. and it cares about showing how a young family in the Tudor era might have fought, loved, laughed, struggled.
Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes, helps carry the film well, where she has that earthy, intuitive presence that makes you feel like she knows the secrets of the woods, your childhood, the meaning of life, and also where you lost your left shoe last week.
Her strength here doesn’t come from dramatic speeches, but from the quiet reactions, unreadable expressions, and small acts of care, and while the casts performances are one of the film’s biggest strengths, Buckley completely anchors the whole thing it has to be said.
Paul Mescal is also really good, where he gives us a version of William Shakespeare who is confused, passionate, restless, and exhausted by the pressure of his own imagination, and he feels like a man who wants two lives, the family one and the artistic one, and he’s constantly failing to balance them.
here are moments when you can see the guilt fighting with the creative storm inside him, the same storm that eventually makes him “Shakespeare,” but here he’s just William, a young husband who is both trying and not trying hard enough at the same time.
One of the boldest choices Chloé Zhao makes is barely mentioning Shakespeare’s name, and you can watch the entire Hamnet film and not hear the words “William Shakespeare” until near the end, and this is intentional, and also brilliant.
It stops us from seeing a legend and forces us to see the man, the father, the flawed human being who sometimes forgets to listen and sometimes loves too loudly or too quietly, while also keeping the story intimate, personal, and focused on the family instead of the myth.
The heavy emotional weight of the story is handled with care too, and not manipulation, where Zhao doesn’t use any swelling music or dramatic camera moves to tell you when to feel emotion, as. she just shows moments honestly, and the honesty does the work.
When the sadness hits, and it does, it feels very earned, as it feels like watching a family you’ve grown attached to experience something you desperately wish you could protect them from, and that’s the power of the approach, and it’s why the emotional impact hits hard at times in the film.
Of course, the movie is not perfect though.
It’s too long, as it feels like it could easily lose twenty minutes and not suffer one little bit, and there are also scenes that clearly exist to show where certain “Shakespeare moments” probably came from, and while some of them are subtle, others practically wave a sign saying, “Hey, here’s where he got that famous line!” which I could have done without.
Also, the slow pacing will absolutely test the patience of anyone who wants a more traditional biopic, but despite those issues, Hamnet works.
It works because it cares about people, not plot points. It works because the acting is rich and genuine. It works because it respects the emotional truth of a family dealing with joy and grief in a time when life was unforgiving and hope was often fragile.
Hamnet is a human story about love, loss, and how the quiet corners of a life can shape someone who goes on to create art that lasts centuries.
What I Liked (And What I Didn’t Like)
Pros
Strong performances
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal deliver some of the best acting I’ve seen this year.
The Emotion
The film handles grief and love with sensitivity, and not melodrama.
Beautiful direction
Chloé Zhao brings an intimate feel to it all that just suits the story perfectly.
Powerful child performances
Jacobi Jupe’s portrayal of Hamnet is warm, sweet, and unforgettable.
Cons
Slow pacing
Some scenes drag just long enough for you to notice.
Too on-the-nose at times
The film occasionally spells out its Shakespeare references a little too clearly.
Could be shorter
There are 15 to 20 minutes that feel unnecessary.
Who Might Like Hamnet
- Fans of Shakespeare stories
- People who enjoy emotional period dramas
- Anyone who loves slow, character-driven films
- Fans of Jessie Buckley or Paul Mescal
Who Might Dislike Hamnet
- Anyone who gets impatient with slow burns
- Anyone expecting a traditional Shakespeare biopic
- People allergic to emotional films
Final Verdict: Did I Enjoy Watching Hamnet?
Even with its slow pace and some overlong moments, Hamnet is tender, painful, beautifully acted, and meaningful.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Hamnet Trailer
Simon Leasher
A lover of cinema for over 35 years, I have watched many films from around the world in many different genres, yet I still normally always come back to trashy slasher horror films when in doubt. More
And yes, The Godfather 2 is better than The Godfather.
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