An Achingly Beautiful Monument To Love And Grief [TIFF 2025]

William Shakespeare wrote hundreds of thousands of words over the course of his career, most of which have been passed down through the centuries and cherished. But despite his prolific output, we know shockingly little about his home life — his wife and children, who have been relegated to little more than a historical footnote. It’s only with Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” adapted from a novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, that their lives are reclaimed, and some of Shakespeare’s most compelling work is given context. A thoughtful meditation on love and grief, “Hamnet” features career-best performances from Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, and is Zhao’s most intimate work to date.

Long before William Shakespeare (Mescal) was the most famous playwright in history, he was just the son of a glover, over-educated for his station and bursting with unrealized promise. Although he finds domestic bliss with the unconventional, wild-eyed Agnes (Buckley) and their three children, his burgeoning career as a writer requires him to split his time between Stratford-on-Avon and London. And so it goes that when a tragedy strikes that will change their family forever, William is far from home and unable to help when he is most needed.

For as long as she could remember, Agnes had a vision of herself on her deathbed, surrounded by two children. So when she ultimately has three, she’s perpetually on her guard, terrified that this glimpse into the future will turn out to be true, and she will lose one of her children. It seems likely that it will be Judith (Olivia Lynes), who almost died at birth and has been sickly in the years since. No one suspects Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), her strapping, hearty twin brother. But in coping with their loss, William and Agnes approach grief in profoundly different ways, their pain and anguish threatening to drive a wedge between the two of them. Agnes’ grief is primal, overwhelming, all-consuming. And William — well, he can only begin to grapple with his emotions through his work. Agnes is a scream into the void, William is the quiet scratching of a quill on paper.

With a thoughtful, meditative eye behind the camera, Chloé Zhao brings out incredible performances from her actors, each of whom are fully zeroed in on their role in the larger piece. As William Shakespeare, Paul Mescal is charming and utterly devoted to his wife and children, but also enigmatic and easily consumed by his work. Jessie Buckley is a force of pure energy, crackling on screen and embodying the connection to nature that is always a throughline in “Hamnet’s” depiction of life and death.

Although Zhao ensures that this is an incredibly intimate piece with its focus on the central characters, she doesn’t abandon the keen visual style she’s become known for. With particular relish she captures the beauty of the outside world, largely through Agnes’ love for the forest. Earthiness abounds, and it not only provides a gorgeous backdrop for its period setting, but emphasizes the importance of the life cycle to its narrative. There’s a tinge of magical realism to “Hamnet,” where the mysteries of nature and even paganism rise to the surface, often standing in direct contrast with the Christian faith the characters have been raised in.

And although Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley will receive the lion’s share of attention for their work in “Hamnet,” we would be remiss not to mention the titular boy himself, played by Jacobi Jupe. The younger brother of actor Noah Jupe (who also has a role to play in “Hamnet” in a heartbreaking scene late in the film that makes the parallels between the two characters even more pronounced), Jacobi showcases an emotional maturity well beyond his years. Hamnet’s desperation to save his twin sister Judith and to prove himself to his father are incredibly well articulated with few words, and Jacobi’s connection to the material speaks volumes about his potential as an actor.

Above all, “Hamnet” speaks to the legacy that we create for our loved ones, and how we honor our dead. Ultimately, we want them to not be forgotten — but Shakespeare, being Shakespeare, is able to go one step further and make his son immortal through the written word. “Hamlet” is, after all, the story of a father and son, one grieving the other for his untimely death and raging against the world for having the nerve to carry on without him. It’s clear late in the film that the classic play “Hamlet” is not just a way for William to work through his emotions, but an enduring monument to his son’s memory.

You’d have to be made of stone not to feel something profound while watching “Hamnet” — from the agonizingly beautiful performances to the vibrant cinematography, the entire production fires on all cylinders. It is, put simply, an incredible achievement, one that everyone involved will likely have as a key component of their career retrospectives in years to come.

“Hamnet” screened at Toronto International Film Festival. It’s slated to have a limited theatrical release on November 27 before opening nationwide on December 12.