“Hamnet”
. A review.
It is remarkable to observe how a young man behaves
before a maid and how a young woman opens her heart to the man she loves. From
the very first meeting, William and Agnes lose themselves in each other, bound
by curiosity, desire, and a quiet understanding that grows into a profound
love.
Director and screenwriter Chloé Zhao, adapting Maggie O’Farrell’s novel
‘Hamnet’, elevates this romance to lyrical heights. The film does not merely
tell a love story; it immerses us in the emotional world of two young people
discovering intimacy, partnership, and destiny in a harsh and uncertain time.
When tragedy strikes the married couple through the
death of their third child, Hamnet, the tone of the film shifts into aching
sorrow. Agnes is raw and unrestrained in her grief. She does not hide her pain
and openly accuses William of not being present when their son died. Her sorrow
is loud, physical, and deeply human. William, on the other hand, absorbs this
grief in silence. He accepts her accusations without protest, carrying his own
suffering inwardly.
Yet William’s grief is neither small nor brief. It
burns within him for years, eventually finding expression in words. The film
beautifully shows how the great writer, William Shakespeare, transforms his
personal anguish into art. Through this transformation, we witness how pain
becomes poetry and how private loss becomes universal emotion. The audience is
given a rare opportunity to see how Shakespeare’s heartache shaped the words
that would later break and heal countless hearts across generations.
Agnes’s closeness to nature, her pagan beliefs, and
her instinctive understanding of life and death are captured with great
sensitivity. These elements blend seamlessly with Chloé Zhao’s direction and Lukasz
Zal’s luminous cinematography, which paints the countryside as both nurturing
and cruel. Nature speaks through Max Richter’s music and becomes a witness to
love, loss, and survival.
However, the film does drag at certain moments. Its
slow pacing may test the patience of some viewers through the two hours screen
time, and without the fine ending and the realistic depiction of the period,
the emotional impact might have been weaker. Still, the authenticity of the
setting and the sincerity of the performances save it from becoming indulgent.
“Keep your heart open” is the central message the
film offers to the world — a reminder that love and grief coexist, and that
closing oneself to pain also closes one’s capacity for love. This message is
made powerful by the moving performances of
Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal,
who lead the cast with natural, restrained, and deeply affecting portrayals.
In the end, ‘Hamnet’ is not just a story about
Shakespeare’s son; it is a meditation on love, loss, and the alchemy of
suffering into art. It lingers in the mind long after the light fades on the screen.
