William Shakespeare may be the most famous writer of all time. Centuries after his life, his works are staged and adapted frequently, sometimes interpreted into modern settings like another film that also screened this year at the Toronto International Film Festival, Aneil Karia’s Hamlet. But Shakespeare himself also remains an enigma, falling in love in the fictional Best Picture winner Shakespeare in Love and likely to have encountered versions of many of the characters in his plays over the course of his life. Hamnet, based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, moves Shakespeare to a supporting role in a poignant and moving exploration of his family.
Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) works as a Latin tutor to pay his father’s debts but finds himself abandoning his pupils to spend time in the woods with Agnes (Jessie Buckley), who is looked down upon by the town’s population because her mother was rumored to be a witch. Determined to be together, they soon wed and have children. Shakespeare goes off to London to begin his career while Agnes stays at home, waiting for the day when they can finally all live together after he has made enough money to bring them with him. As they spend less time together, the spouses find themselves growing apart, still united by a fierce love for their children and a devastating shared tragedy.
Hamnet is introduced by a note that the names Hamnet and Hamlet were essentially interchangeable during Shakespeare’s life. Hamnet was one of their children, who plays an important part in this story but isn’t the lead. Instead, it’s Agnes, whose passion for her husband is clear from shortly after they first meet but who forges her own path, connected to the pieces of her mother that her neighbors have rejected and a naturally good mother in her own right to her children. It’s a strange and brave choice to tell this story about Shakespeare and have him play such a limited part, but it proves to extraordinarily beneficial.
Since becoming only the second woman ever to win the Oscar for Best Director, Chloé Zhao has made only the Marvel movie Eternals. This is a staggering return to form that takes elements from both Nomadland and The Rider, quite comfortable in living in the silence and slowness of moments. There’s not actually much that happens over the course of this film’s roughly two hour-runtime, yet it feels so complete, without slow or unnecessary moments to fill any gaps in action. Zhao is a masterful filmmaker who tells beautiful stories about people longing for connection, and this is no exception.
Buckley has been delivering commanding performances since her feature film debut in Beast, which had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival eight years ago. After a run of great films from different genres including The Lost Daughter, Fingernails, and Wicked Little Letters, this may well be her defining performance, though she’s sure to go on to even greater things. It’s hard to put into words just how effective Buckley is in both moments of sheer joy and devastating sadness. Mescal, who is very busy these days with many projects, is sensitive and serious as the Bard, with affecting supporting turns from Emily Watson as Shakespeare’s mother, Joe Alwyn as Agnes’ brother, and Jacobi Jupe, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Olivia Lynes as the couple’s children.
While many filmmakers choose to work with the same artisans over and over, it’s refreshing to Zhao, who edited this film herself, collaborating for the first time with cinematographer Łukasz Żal and composer Max Richter. Both contribute tremendously to the effectiveness of this film, and as in Nomadland, the use of preexisting music for certain key scenes is a fantastic choice. Beautifully-shot and visually striking, the emotional impact of this film’s closing scene can’t be understated, and even those who haven’t yet been able to connect with the film will likely find themselves close to tears.
Movie Rating: 9/10
