Hamnet Film Review: A Breathtaking, Heartbreaking Triumph

Last updated: 26 March 2026

This is an opinion piece. Views expressed are the author's own and do not constitute professional advice.

This Hamnet film review has been a long time coming. When Maggie O'Farrell's award-winning 2020 novel landed, it felt like the kind of book that would resist adaptation entirely. Too interior, too sensory, too delicately constructed. And then Chloé Zhao signed on to direct, Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley were cast, and suddenly the prospect became very real. The result, now available on Prime Video and on DVD/Blu-ray in the UK, is one of the most emotionally powerful films of recent years. It is not flawless, but its final minutes are nothing short of extraordinary.

Cool Factor: 4/5 — Stone cold

What is Hamnet about?

Hamnet is a fictionalised account of the family life of William Shakespeare. Specifically, it focuses on his wife Agnes (referred to historically as Anne Hathaway, though O'Farrell pointedly uses the name Agnes) and the devastating loss of their eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, who died in 1596. The novel, and now the film, imagines that this grief directly inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet, one of the most famous plays ever produced.

Zhao co-wrote the screenplay with O'Farrell herself, which goes some way to explaining why the film feels so faithful to the novel's spirit. Produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, the film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2025, won the People's Choice Award at Toronto, and arrived in UK cinemas on 9 January 2026 via Universal Pictures. It has since earned eight Oscar nominations and won Best Actress for Buckley at the 98th Academy Awards on 15 March 2026. It also took home BAFTA Outstanding British Film and BAFTA Best Actress.

First impressions

Right from the opening frames, this is a film that wants you to feel the world it inhabits. Cinematographer Łukasz Żal shoots the Warwickshire countryside with a patient, unhurried beauty. You can almost feel the wind and smell the wet earth. Zhao has always been a close observer of nature and of the people passing through it, and those instincts are fully present here.

The story opens with the courtship of young William (Mescal), then working as a Latin tutor, and the slightly older Agnes (Buckley), a herbalist and healer who unsettles the locals with her fierce independence and intuitive connection to the natural world. Their early romance is tender and convincing, even if the film lingers here a touch longer than it needs to. There is a warmth and physicality to these scenes that immediately draws you in, though a small voice in the back of your mind wonders whether the film is taking its time getting to the point.

The experience

Let's cut to it: Jessie Buckley is sensational. Her portrayal of Agnes is raw, physical, and utterly commanding. She carries the emotional weight of the entire film on her shoulders, particularly in the devastating third act, and she does so with a kind of ferocity that feels almost supernatural. It is no surprise that she swept the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, SAG Awards, and the Oscar for Best Actress on the way to becoming one of the defining screen performances of the decade.

Mescal, meanwhile, gets more room to breathe here than in some of his quieter recent roles. He is charming in the early courtship scenes and genuinely affecting as grief reshapes his character later on. Their chemistry is palpable. Among the younger cast, Jacobi Jupe brings a fragile warmth to the title role, while his real-life brother Noah Jupe appears as Hamlet in the film's stage sequences.

Hamnet is not without its weaker moments, though. Zhao spends a generous amount of time on the early years of Agnes and William's relationship, and while these scenes are beautifully shot, they come at the expense of time spent with Hamnet himself and his twin sister Judith (Olivia Lynes). By the time the story reaches its central tragedy, you long for a deeper connection to the boy whose absence is meant to shatter everything. In addition, there are stretches where the film tips into a slightly prestige-drama earnestness that feels at odds with Zhao's usually more grounded instincts.

A scene involving Shakespeare delivering a fragment of the famous "to be or not to be" soliloquy by the Thames, tears streaming, is one such moment. It lands on the heavier side of what it is trying to achieve. Similarly, the use of Max Richter's On the Nature of Daylight in the closing stretch, already deployed to devastating effect in Arrival, feels like a borrowed shortcut in a film that otherwise earns its emotional payoff the hard way.

And yet. The closing five minutes of Hamnet are genuinely extraordinary. Without spoiling the specifics, Zhao brings together all of the film's threads — grief, art, love, loss — into a single transcendent sequence inside the Globe Theatre. Buckley's face does things in this scene that no amount of description can properly convey. It is the kind of filmmaking that reminds you why cinema exists at all: the ability to take something impossibly personal and make it universal.

The film's central argument, that Hamlet was born from the grief of losing a son, is speculative by nature. But by the end, it barely matters whether it is historically accurate. The emotional truth of it is overwhelming.

Value for money

At 125 minutes, Hamnet does not overstay its welcome, even if the pacing is uneven in the first half. For those watching at home, it is now available to rent on Apple TV and other UK platforms, and you can watch Hamnet on Prime Video. It was also released on DVD and Blu-ray on 3 March 2026.

Watch Hamnet on Prime Video

If you have not read Maggie O'Farrell's original novel, it is well worth your time as a companion piece. The Women's Prize for Fiction winner and Waterstones Book of the Year adds layers of interior detail and sensory richness the film cannot fully replicate. You can pick up a copy of Hamnet on Bookshop.org or grab it on Amazon. Buckley also recorded a new version of the audiobook, which is superb and worth listening to even if you have already read the novel. You can find the Hamnet audiobook on Amazon.

Buy Hamnet on Bookshop.org

If you enjoy great audiobooks, you might also want to check out our best audiobooks for March 2026 roundup or browse our Audible detail page for a free trial deal.

This review includes affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. Our opinions remain entirely our own.

The verdict

Hamnet is a stately, occasionally uneven period drama that is elevated into something truly special by its final act and by Jessie Buckley's once-in-a-generation performance. It does not always manage its pacing or its more overtly emotional gestures with the lightness you might hope for, and you wish it gave us more time with the boy at its centre. But when it lands, it lands with a force that is hard to describe and impossible to forget. Those closing minutes, in which private grief becomes the spark for one of the greatest works of art ever written, are as moving as anything you will see at the cinema this year.

Overall, a solid 4/5 Stone cold. Buckley's performance and Zhao's extraordinary final act earned this score comfortably. It did not quite reach Ice cold because the uneven pacing in the first half and an over-reliance on familiar prestige-drama gestures held it back from perfection.

Cool Factor

★★★★☆

4 out of 5 — Stone cold

Hamnet: the key details

Director: Chloé Zhao
Screenplay: Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Jacobi Jupe, Noah Jupe, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn
Runtime: 125 minutes
UK release: 9 January 2026 (cinema) / 3 March 2026 (DVD and Blu-ray)
Producers: Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes
Score: Max Richter
Cinematography: Łukasz Żal
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% (critics) / 93% (audience)
Oscar nominations: 8, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress
Oscar wins: Best Actress (Jessie Buckley)
BAFTA wins: Outstanding British Film, Best Actress

Hamnet Film Review: FAQs

Is Hamnet based on a true story?

Partly. Hamnet Shakespeare was a real person who died in 1596 at the age of eleven. The film, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel, fictionalises the family's grief and imagines that this loss directly inspired Shakespeare to write Hamlet. Many of the domestic details and character dynamics are invented, but the emotional core is grounded in documented history.

Is Hamnet worth watching?

If you appreciate slow-burn period drama driven by exceptional performances, absolutely. The pacing in the first half may test your patience, but the final act is one of the most emotionally powerful sequences in recent cinema. Jessie Buckley's Oscar-winning performance alone makes it worth your time.

Do I need to read the book before watching the film?

Not at all. The film stands on its own as a complete experience. That said, reading the novel adds layers of interior detail and sensory richness that the film, by nature, cannot fully replicate. Both are excellent.

How many Oscars did Hamnet win?

Hamnet received eight nominations at the 98th Academy Awards on 15 March 2026, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. It won one: Best Actress for Jessie Buckley. It also won two BAFTAs: Outstanding British Film and Best Actress.

Where can I watch Hamnet in the UK?

Hamnet was released in UK cinemas on 9 January 2026 via Universal Pictures. It is now available to rent digitally on platforms including Apple TV, and you can watch it on Prime Video. It was also released on DVD and Blu-ray on 3 March 2026.

Is Hamnet suitable for children?

The film is rated PG-13 in the US for thematic content, some strong sexuality, and partial nudity. It deals with grief and child death, which may be distressing for younger viewers. Parental discretion is advised.

Who plays Shakespeare in Hamnet?

Paul Mescal plays the young William Shakespeare. Jessie Buckley plays his wife Agnes (historically known as Anne Hathaway). Jacobi Jupe plays the title character, Hamnet, and his real-life brother Noah Jupe appears as Hamlet in the film's stage sequences.

How does the Hamnet film compare to the book?

The film streamlines O'Farrell's narrative and loses some of the novel's rich interior thought, but it captures the emotional essence beautifully. The final act arguably hits even harder on screen than on the page, thanks largely to Buckley's performance and Zhao's restrained direction.