Hamnet (Chloe Zhao, 2025)
Rating: Q=12, P=8 / Decadence
Scale 1=4, Scale 2=4, Scale 3=4, Scale 4=4
Shakespeare, Adaptation, Biopic, Grief, Complex Relationships, Storytelling
Synopsis: In late 16th-century England, Agnes, a healer sensitive to the world around her, builds a home with William, a local tutor and aspiring playwright. As their lives fracture, they are tested by distance, silence, and grief.
“Our children’s hearts beat, they smile play. Never forget for a moment they may be gone.”
I wept. More than once. My attention was rapt. I was overwhelmed with emotion. Every scene in Hamnet is powerful. This is a story of love, grief, family, sickness, storytelling. It is humanity. It is powerful. This is the most beautifully moving film I have ever seen. Chloe Zhao has done something miraculous. Even if you don’t know Shakespeare, even if you don’t usually like emotional/dramatic films, you will find something in this film that speaks to you. We have all known loss and we have all struggled to cope in our own ways. This film reminds us that people don’t truly die or fade away—they can live on. Storytellers tell, artists show, and both let us feel. And this is why all art is so valuable to human beings.
