Hamnet – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director – Chloé Zhao
Writers – Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
Stars – Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Zac Wishart

Hamnet, the son of Shakespeare who died as an eleven-year-old, has in the last decade been the subject of considerable artistic and creative exploration. In 2017, Dublin-based theatre company Dead Centre created Hamnet, which premiered in the Dublin Theatre Festival.  Coleraine-born writer, Maggie O’Farrell, published her novel entitled “Hamnet” in 2020. Now a film produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, amongst others, brings to the screen an adaptation of O’Farrell’s novel with Irish film stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal heading the cast. In less than a decade, Hamnet Shakespeare has moved from being, at best, a footnote in history to a figure of considerable fame and speculation.

The film starts with the almost feral Agnes (Jessie Buckley) in the woods near Stratford-upon-Avon, with which she is in tune. She encounters Will (Paul Mescal), a youthful teacher of classics. She is of the earth and is a little older than Will. From the start, there is a raw physical attraction between them as well as chemistry. It does not take long for a child, Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), to be born shortly after their marriage, at which time she was pregnant. But this is no loveless shotgun marriage. Twins Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and Judith (Olivia Lynes) duly follow, and a functional, happy family emerges.

Director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland and The Rider) shows in browns and a sombre palette the daily life of the Shakespeare family. Will faces the complex challenges of a career as a man of the stage in London and as a father and husband in Stratford-upon-Avon. In O’Farrell’s telling of the story, Hamnet dies of the plague while Will is returning from London, but he is too late. Inexpressible grief overcomes the family, and Will channels his grief into his writing. Gradually, what the world knows as “Hamlet” emerges. Agnes, as the mother of Hamne,t naturally has reservations about any artistic representation of her beloved, barely adolescent, deceased son. She cherishes her memories of Hamnet. It is the melding of these two different expressions of grief which gives the final sequences of the film their extraordinary and moving strength.

There is a great deal to praise in this film. The rawness of life in sixteenth century England is seen unvarnished, particularly in relation to childbirth and death. The surrounding countryside in all its brooding magnificence creates the challenging ambience against which the Stratford-upon-Avon events unfold, while the varied citizenry of London creates the complex audience who watch with Agnes the first performance of Hamlet, with the title role played by Noah Jupe, elder brother of Jacobi (Hamnet). It engages at all times, helped by a compelling musical score by Max Richter.

Buckley is almost part of the landscape in which she lives. It is her habitat, and she thrives within it, and it is the essence of her. Buckley imparts the uniqueness of her close connection with it. Nor does its spirit leave her when she has to handle her incalculable grief. It underlies the metamorphoses of emotions she experiences while she watches the play Hamlet in its first manifestation. It is an astounding performance by Buckley. However, that said, it was greatly supported by Paul Mescal as Will. He is a muscular as well as cerebral Shakespeare. He combines the intellectual energy of the young classics teacher and playwright with a smouldering physicality that makes him an ideal husband and lover for the complexities that are Agnes. In short, they are each powerful as a couple and as individuals.

The casting of the two Jupe brothers who play Hamnet and Hamlet was inspired. There are several minor roles, all of which add to the sense of this being a film created with sensitivity and considerable acumen. It richly deserves the accolades it is already receiving.