Five Reasons to watch Hamnet

1. Maggie O’Farrell

Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel Hamnet was an utter sensation upon release. The novel is a fictional account of William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, who died at age eleven, and focuses onthe relationship and grief shared between Shakespeare and Hamnet’s mother, Agnes. The novel, like all of O’Farrell’s writing, is rich with emotion and lush description, giving voice to Agnes’ inner world and also her deep rooted, mystical connection to nature.

The book won endless awards, including the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, and gained a fervent following of fans.

Readers can often feel wary about film adaptations of beloved novels, but should feel reassured that O’Farrell is co-writer of Chloé Zhao’s cinematic adaptation. They have done incredible work transforming
an interior, sensory novel into cinema, preserving the novel’s heartbeat while finding new visual ways to express grief, love and memory. If you loved the book, you’ll spot the care in how key moments are reimagined rather than simply illustrated. If you haven’t read it yet, the film stands alone as a complete, self-contained experience.

Maggie O'Farrell

2. Jessie Buckley

Jessie Buckley has gone from strength to strength over the past few years, giving truly remarkable performances in projects like Chernobyl, The Lost Daughter, Women Talking, Men and I’m Thinking OF Ending Things, and will be seen in Maggie Gyllehaal’s feminist Frankenstein adaptation, The Bride!, next year. In Hamnet, playing Agnes Hathaway, wife to William Shakespeare, the glorious Buckley is the film’s beating heart. She plays Agnes as fierce, earthy, and otherworldly – a woman rooted in nature and motherhood, who’s also a force in her own right. The film tracks her journey from young, passionate lover to grieving mother, and Buckley moves through it with wild shifts of strength and fragility. Watch this space for Oscar nominations.

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet.

3. Chloé Zhao

This is Zhao’s first film since her Oscar-winning Nomadland and Marvel’s Eternals, films that could not be more different in scale. But both tap into ideas of community and connection in different ways. Here, Zhao looks at the power of the natural world and the depth of the human condition in stunning fashion. The director shifts the focus away from Shakespeare the Great Man and toward Agnes; her deep connection with nature; and the domestic world that births his art. This is a radically, powerfully feminine film, connected to the body and the natural world in ways that feel both primal and spiritual. Shot with a lush attention to natural light, unhurried pacing, and an immersive sense of place, the film is luminous – both emotional and grounded, concerned with celebrating women’s creation of life, not just one man’s creation of art.

Hamnet Premiere at Light House Cinema on December 13th, 2025. Copyright Abigail Ring/ hotpress.com

4. Max Richter’s score

Composer Max Richter, beloved for his work on Arrival and The Leftovers, crafts a score for Hamnet that is ethereal, delicate and quietly overwhelming. Richter is known for taking inspiration from the body and the natural world, and is best known for his post-minimalist and contemporary classical works, particularly Sleep. Inspired by the film’s era and its focus on nature, Richter took elements of Elizabethan music – period instruments, old harmonic “grammar” – and combined them with his trademark minimalist emotional style to create themes to convey Agnes’s inner life. He and Zhao even used some of the music so the actors could play directly to its emotional currents. Then there’s the late-film deployment of his modern classic ‘On the Nature Of Daylight,’ which will leave you sobbing. Music lovers will adore Richter’s work on this film.

5. The buzz

Hamnet premiered at Telluride, stormed through Toronto – where it won the TIFF People’s Choice Award – and other festivals, and is getting rave reviews. Beyond Buckley, reviewers highlight Paul Mescal’s Shakespeare as another deeply felt turn from the Normal People and Aftersun star, with strong support from Emily Watson and Joe Alwyn. Award pundits are already calling the film a major Best Picture contender, with particular heat around Buckley’s performance and the overall craft. It’s one of those rare movies where people come out a little stunned, texting their friends, “You have to see this.” Just remember to bring tissues.

Hamnet

• Hamnet is in cinemas from January 9. Watch the trailer below: