Hamnet, the latest work of the wonderful Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao, who won best picture and director Oscars for 2020’s Nomadland, is an adaptation, written by Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell, of O’Farrell’s bestselling 2020 novel of the same name about the Shakespeare family. A tearjerker of the first order, it has become — in the wake of its Aug. 29 world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, and subsequent screenings here, including the one that I caught on Saturday at the Werner Herzog Theatre — the most talked-about film at the fest. It also has generated a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score (including a THR rave) and widespread Oscar buzz, not least for its lead performers.
Paul Mescal, an Oscar nominee for 2022’s Aftersun, plays William, a man of words, and Jessie Buckley, an Oscar nominee for 2021’s The Lost Daughter, plays Agnes, a woman of nature. Both emanate from troubled families, happen upon each other, fall in love almost instantly, and quickly begin having children — Susannah (Bohdi Rae Breathnatch), and then twins, Judith (Olivia Lynes) and Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe). Then, after a few years of happiness, tragedy strikes, claiming the life of Hamnet — a name which, it turns out, was interchangeable in the 16th century with the name Hamlet, and, according to this story, inspired the play with that title.
As is also the case with another film at the fest, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, there is not a lot of joy in Hamnet — it’s primarily a film about heartbreaking loss and crippling grief — but it is beautifully shot by the Oscar-nominated cinematographer Łukasz Żal (Ida and Cold War); features stunning sets by the Oscar-nominated production designer Fiona Crombie (The Favourite); is bolstered by a memorable score by Max Richter (Arrival); and showcases affecting performances by Mescal and Buckley. Along with the film, director and screenplay, all of the above seem like top-tier contenders for Oscar nominations, at the least.
I would just caution that, while there are clearly many fans of the film in Telluride, I have also encountered a number of people from the industry who quietly profess to have not connected with it at all, with the term “trauma porn” coming up more than once. Plus, Telluride attendees have been known to get a bit of a Rocky Mountain high, on occasion, about films that later came back to earth — see 2021’s C’mon C’mon and Cyrano, 2022’s Empire of Light and Women Talking, 2023’s Saltburn, and yes, 2024’s September 5. So I will be very curious to see how Hamnet plays in the weeks and months to come — its next stop is the Toronto International Film Festival, and then Focus Features will begin rolling it out in theaters on Nov. 27 — when people will see it in the wake of such huge hype.
