Hamnet (12A)

William Shakespeare falls under the spell of Agnes Hathaway, who is rumoured to be the daughter of a forest witch. They plan to marry after consummating the relationship, despite fierce opposition from William's disapproving mother, Mary. The couple persist and raise a family in Stratford-upon-Avon comprising daughter Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet. During a period of absence when William is working in London, bubonic plague ravages the household.

LondonNet Film Review

Hamnet (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Written before Hamlet, Shakespeare’s political thriller dedicated to the bloodthirsty history of Julius Caesar counsels the audience to embrace life without fear: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.” The Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon heeds his own iambic pentameter in director Chloe Zhao’s exquisitely moving drama adapted for the screen by the filmmaker and author Maggie O’Farrell from her novel about Shakespeare’s descent into grief with wife Agnes after the death of their beloved 11-year-old son…

The picture opens in pastoral bliss with Agnes Hathaway (Jessie Buckley) wafting through a forest with her hawk, feeding rumours that she is the daughter of a witch, while William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) tutors boys in Latin to settle the debts of his bullying and brutish father (David Wilmot). The scholar falls under Agnes’s spell and they plan to marry after consummating the relationship. “I would rather you went to sea than marry this wench,” spits William’s disapproving mother, Mary (Emily Watson).

The couple persist and raise a family in Stratford-upon-Avon comprising daughter Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and twins Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). London is the hotbed of theatrical creativity, forcing William to leave Warwickshire for extended periods while Agnes tends to their brood. During a period of absence, young Hamnet honours a promise to his father to be brave and the urchin succumbs to the ravages of bubonic plague in place of his twin. “Take me,” the tyke whispers to the blackness that has come for his sister. William returns home to discover his boy’s tragic fate. Heartbreaking loss divides the couple and William channels his emotions on to parchment as he prepares to stage the tragedy of a Danish prince driven to madness by his father’s ghost.

Hamnet is a bewitching and bountiful banquet, elegantly combining the earthy colours of Lukasz Zal’s cinematography, heartrending dialogue torn from the pages of O’Farrell’s novel, impeccable production design and composer Max Richter’s elegiac electronic score derived from sounds of Elizabethan-period instruments. Buckley’s performance is towering. The guttural scream that emanates from Agnes’ body when Hamnet takes his final breath in her arms, after various herbal potions fail to loosen death’s tightening grip, pierces like a dagger. Only an injustice would deny her the Academy Award for Best Actress in March.

Mescal is quieter though no less compelling as a father robbed of an opportunity to say goodbye to his boy. His anguish drip feeds into an emotionally shattering and cathartic final 10 minutes that director Zhao orchestrates with consummate flair and sensitivity, aided by an impeccable supporting turn from Jupe’s older brother Noah. On the stage of the Globe Theatre, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark. Zhao’s film is fragrant and intoxicating perfection.

– Jo Planter