Hamnet

There's this 16th century guy named Will. He lives on a farm in England. Will meets a girl, knocks her up, they marry, and build a happy family. Will travels for work. Then the unthinkable happens.

The first half plays like Malick with steadier pacing, light and texture, before shifting into something heavier. That's when Will becomes Shakespeare.

Artists across eras reflect the best and worst of humanity. The rest of us may lack their tools of expression, but we're all shaped by tragedy.

You don't need to love Shakespeare or theatre to feel the power of art, how it helps creators wrestle with pain and how it helps audiences recognize one another.

It's that connection that makes us human.

Watched at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

A beautiful, emotional, and raw tale about the tale of loss, romance, bonds, family, and the surroundings world of the Shakespeare family. I'm so happy Chloe Zhao is back to her roots as her direction on the atmosphere, writing, characters and tone is absolutely remarkable. On exploring the characters, their conflicts and movements, and emotions, within the gorgeous production designs, beautiful camerawork, sound designs and strong powerful direction on the themes and tone was balanced, creative and excellent. Zhao works well on exploring on the normal individuals lives revolving around social class, community and lives. While unlike focusing on the modern era, still, Zhao's approach with the classic era still remains powerful and effective.

The characters were interesting as observing the lives of a couple dealing with their problems, their goals, and the emotions gathering between is pretty good. Especially the performances as Paul Mescal, Jessie Buckley and the rest of the cast were fantastic. I'm so happy to see Buckley receiving more recognition as she is very talented and deserves it.

The dialogue is pretty good, the musical score is great, and the writing, although admittedly, certain writing concepts didn't fully work at some points, was engaging, interesting and offered some pretty great themes to explore. Coming out from my screening, I'd overheard some calling this Oscar Bait and I disagree, Oscar Bait movies are much more forced, pretentious and those trying so hard to be so grand and excellent. Hamnet doesn't feel forced, it feels genuine, raw, realistic and at times, a good neo-realism.

Overall, I'm happy for Zhao to be back in her roots for what she is very good with. Definitely one of the best movies from the festival so far.

This movie is about remembrance, dedication, love.

I came in knowing almost nothing and only fully realized this was about Shakespeare near the very end of the movie. In a sense, I wish I knew more about Shakespeare's history and the story of hamlet. However, I feel coming in with nothing actually added more to the film and its emotion; not fully understanding what was happening till the very end made it so much stronger going into that last march. To be honest I wasn't fully convinced with the first half of the film, but the last part brought it all back making everything make sense again.

The introduction of the theater is crucial to prepare the audience for the scene that's about to unfold. The camera and angles from the beginning of the theater scene builds the suspense: the feeling of who Will has become, and the meaning of this play combined with the tension between them two.

The acting is also incredible with paul and jacobi's performances truly making the movie - raw, authentic, and full of emotion. Particularly Paul's "again" scene. It might be worth an award.

The costume design is well thought out and the blonde hair paint and blue costume really stands out. The attention to detail with the ghost's white clay...

The final scene of the crowd reaching out and Hamnet turning away was the most heart wrenching and beautiful of the film and did bring me to tears.

Paul Mescal gives a breathtaking performance in Hamnet. His acting is powerful, emotional, and so natural that every moment feels real. The film itself is beautifully directed, visually stunning, and full of heart. It's a deeply moving story that stays with you long after watching. A masterpiece - one of the best films of the year!

Hamlet is a very old story coming from the Norse legends of Omlodhi. The original story is almost exactly the same with a few changes the Shakespeare made for his time. It was not based on this. It is based on that story. If you don't believe me, search it. Or better yet read Hamlet's Mill. It outlines the history perfectly. Not this garbage of a movie.