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Director: Chloe Zhao
Stars: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal
Distributor: Universal Pictures

“He’s got more inside of him than any man I’ve ever met.”

A film adaptation from the 2020 Maggie O’Farrell book of the same name, Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao is back in the director’s chair with Hamnet. Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal star in, perhaps, the roles of a lifetime. Hamnet featured as The Mayor of London’s Gala at BFI LFF.

Jessie Buckley is Agnes, a falconry expert and general lonesome soul…until Paul Mescal steps in. For Mescal, he is Will, a Latin tutor whose priorities grow to be elsewhere. Agnes captures not only the falconry, but the attention of Will, as he is amazed by her individuality and beauty alongside nature. After initial disdain from their respective families, their romance and love is approved, enabling them to become married. Subsequently, three children are born: an older sister and twin boy & girl. As life moves on, the children grow older, Agnes becomes more domesticated in the household mother sense, whilst Will is overcome with creative frustrations and ultimately finds himself venturing to London for work.

In what follows, we see what feels like the gradual breakdown of a household. In Will’s actions, there’s a fine line between selfishness and doing what’s best for one’s family. Agnes, on the other hand, like many single parents, feels both the dream of the perfect family is over, and what did they do wrong.

The dynamic between Buckley and Mescal is utterly fascinating. The former finds form in performance quite early on, almost instantly, whereas Mescal’s time takes place later in the story; more of a gradual buildup. Though there are leaps in the characterisation of Agnes, Buckley gives everything each time, as her character evolves throughout, almost unrecognisable towards the climax as we first saw her training a falcon. Mescal, though charming, is a ticking timebomb. So much emotion kept within. His rage of emotion, followed by consequences of actions, are both haunting as they are beautiful.

Like Zhao perfected with Nomadland, the environments in Hamnet – both physical and mental – are embraced with warmth and intrigue. Early, when initially establishing both the environment and characters, this picture does reminisce with those traditionally wholesome period dramas. On the flipside, the ways in which nature is captured by Zhao, and the characters interacting with nature, are nothing but sublime. The ways in which the two leads interact with varying environments, dependent on either their emotion or actions, is a special watch that acts as a reference back to the early themes and occurrences of how we interact with nature and existence.

When the existence of Hamlet is central late on, Hamnet does embody the feeling of another film or a very obvious add-on to all that occurred prior. Though this jump may feel quite overwhelming in typical pacing and storytelling, the brilliant and significant waves of performance and emotion in this finale do more than enough to mask any questions or curiosities over story transition, or elements of the story that appear to be faint or less prevalent. The emotion shown feels truly unmatched. Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet may not be an epic in concept, but it is rather an epic in human emotion.