Hamnet: Movie Review

I'm a bit later than most to the Hamnet party, but I was excited to sit down and finally watch this as everyone's been talking about it. Chloe Zhao's historical tragedy has been the cause of discussion amongst film lovers for the past couple of months, not to mention that it's been receiving great critical acclaim. Nominated for no less than eight oscars, Hamnet has been winning big awards such as the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama. Jessie Buckley has been absolutely sweeping her nominations, and many consider her a lock for the Best Actress Oscar.

Hamnet tells the dramatised story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes. We witness their story from the very beginning, meeting and falling in love, and we follow them across eleven years, as they build a family and a life together. The focus of the movie is the loss of one of their children, Hamnet, and the impact that that has on the family. We see Agnes deal with her grief as a mother, and witness the strain it causes between her and Will.

Regardless of how you feel about the movie, one thing cannot be disputed: Jessie Buckley gives the best performance of her career so far. Her acting is very solid in the first half of the movie, but once Hamnet dies, her performance goes from great to generational. Her gutural scream as she holds her son's lifeless body will stay with me for a long time. She completely dissappears in the role of a grieving mother, giving us a raw and deeply moving portrayal of Agnes.

Paul Mescal's relentless quest to play the saddest, most broken men in history continues, and his role as William Shakespeare might be one of his best yet. Although Hamnet is very much Agnes's story, not his, he is captivating everytime he is on screen. A tormented, disturbed man who is stuck between his love for writing and his desire to do what's best for his family, he unfortunately spends a long time away from them. Gone to London to purse his dreams, William is not present when his son passes away. This causes a strain between him and Agnes, and their relationship is frosty when he once again leaves f0r the capital to continue his creative pursuit. The loss of Hamnet is the catalyst for his now famous play, Hamlet.

I can't write about this movie and not mention Jacobi Jupe, the young actor who plays Hamnet. My God, what a performance. Perhaps one of the best performance by a child actor we've seen in a very, very long time. A lot of people were upset that Paul Mescal was not nominated for an Oscars in the Best Supporting Actor category, but I think that the real snub from this movie is Jacobi. It's so rare to see such a stellar performance from a child, and he is nothing short of extraordinary.

The best part of the movie is the last twenty minutes. Agnes and her brother Bartholomew travel to London to see William. Unable to find him at home, they decide to attend the first performance of Hamlet. Although initially offended at the use of her son's name, she quickly is moved to tears when she realises that the play is a tribute to Hamnet. During the scene in which Hamlet dies, Agnes reaches to hold the actor's hand, just as she did when she first met William, and the audience follows her. She imagines Hamnet on stage, smiling at her before disappearing through a hole like of the forest cave she frequented. The power of art shines through in this scene, as Agnes realises that the whole world will be crying for her son for generations to come through this play.

The movie ends with Agnes laughing for the first time since Hamnet's death.

"Will you be brave?"