Hamnet (2025) Dir: Chloé Zhao

Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DTackKHjUxC/?igsh=MW1uemdxY2hsNmliNA==

Even if you have not read William Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', most of you will have at least heard of its existence. I have read a few Shakespeare plays, but, I must admit, I am one of those people who has not read the famous play. This drama, directed by the Oscar-winning Chloé Zhao, is not based on that play, but is in fact based on the 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell, which tells the real-life story that inspired Shakespeare's iconic play.

There is no better place to start than with the film's soundtrack. The use of 'On The Nature Of Daylight' was simply magical. It's a piece of music that captures the beauty, the tragedy, and the emotion of living with such complexity and nuance, and it was used phenomenally to illustrate that very notion. In fact, Max Richter's entire soundtrack was wondrously good. The music ebbed and flowed, gently guiding the emotional course of the film, and delicately informing the audience what was happening. The music of the film was bouncing around my head for hours after the film was over, as were the emotions they produced.

If her Oscar nod for 'Nomadland' had not done so already, this film provided all the evidence you could possibly need to understand the immense talents of Chloé Zhao. Her direction was tender and intimate, without ever becoming invasive, and her shot selection was not only shrewd, but produced some absolutely delightful images, which felt straight out of a romantic fairytale. I could almost smell the trees, such was the sense of immersion created by Zhao's filmmaking.

The narrative was eloquently told, but left plenty of its storytelling up to the actors involved in the piece, giving it a balanced and emotionally-driven feel. The personal and emotive nature of the story meant that I began to feel myself a companion in their journey, as all good stories do. I felt as though I were experiencing the love, the anguish, and the grief with the characters in the film, to the point that I quietly bawled my eyes out for about thirty minutes straight in the cinema. It was such a beautiful yet bitter-sweet tale, and its innate sense of humanity only made it more impactful.

Jessie Buckley put in a magnificent, deeply compelling, and highly emotional performance, and provided the film with some incredibly genuine moments. I was stunned by the degree of emotion and the level of investment Buckley induced in me as I watched, such was the nature and quality of her performance. I will be shocked if she does not at least receive an Academy Award nomination for her endeavours - not that awards are the be-all and end-all, but she certainly deserves it.

Paul Mescal did what Paul Mescal does, and provided a vulnerable, anguished and thought provoking performance in a very emotionally demanding role. His performance in the final third of the film was immaculate, and conveyed the best of his abilities. His passion, not only in the romantic sense, but for his character's work, was infectious. He had the poetic rhythm down, and it really felt like I was watching somebody who not only knew the lines, but understood them too.

The young Jacobi Jupe provided a beautiful and moving performance in his supporting role, one which will stay with me for some time. He was so tender and so emotive - it was wonderful to watch him perform, especially with the other young actors, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach and Olivia Lynes, both of whom also deserve praise for their own acting too, by the way. All three young actors were tremendous, and showed an incredible degree of talent.

Emily Watson gave a very commendable account of her abilities in a very memorable supporting role, particularly during the most emotionally low point of the film. She was sublime. I also thought the performances of both Joe Alwyn and Noah Jupe were absolutely worth mentioning too, despite how minor their roles were, by contrast.

Overall, I thought this was a beautiful and powerful account of grief, love, poetry, and loss, bound together tightly by the incredible performances of its cast, especially the two leads. I was simultaneously enamoured and devastated by this excellent drama - it was a magnificent example of well-told and meaningful writing. Very few films have impacted me the way this one did, and it is, without a doubt, one of the best films of 2025.