Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

After a quick Chipotle break in the car and Morgan being added to the watch party, I ventured back into the same auditorium (not the same seat, though; I moved from E8 all the way to E7—Morgan sat in E8) for Hamnet, which I’ve been getting excited for for weeks. Fortunately, the film was just about as good and absolutely heartbreaking as I thought it’d be. Let’s talk about why.

I knew almost nothing of the personal life of Shakespeare before seeing the first trailers for Hamnet, but if this story is true, then boy, did the Shakespeares have a rough go of it. Rarely—and especially in its second hour—was Hamnet not devastating, but I think its abundance of devastation was actually one of its strengths. Not only were the worst moments of the Shakespeares’ lives brought to life by amazing performances (that I’ll talk about later) and some brain chemistry-altering screams, but all of the sadness made the hopeful and happy moments that bookended it so much more meaningful.

While most of the film was beautifully tragic, there were two moments of hope that really got to me, and even if they didn’t result in streaming tears, I got choked up by them. The first was, obviously, when Hamnet died, but I’d like to include the moments before it first. Hamnet trading places with Judith was precious and touching, but what took the cake in that sequence was Agnes’ scream. That was haunting. The second was when Agnes reached out her hand to the actor playing Hamlet at the end. What an impactful, cathartic, and surprisingly communal moment. It was so powerful to see not only Agnes, but the entire audience, reach out to Hamlet. In a way, they felt Agnes’ pain with her, and shared in some part of her closure, too.

While happy scenes and characters were in short supply for most of the movie, I really enjoyed the Shakespeares’ family dynamic. The couple of scenes where they were eating or playing or acting together were really fun and reminded me of the amazing family dynamic of I’m Still Here from last year. Morgan and I also agreed on this: we don’t know where Chloé Zhao found these child actors, but they were some of the best we’d ever seen in a movie. Jacobi Jupe in particular will be on the nominee lists of the outlets and shows that do a “Best Newcomer” award—no child should be able to unlock that level of emotional depth—but I enjoyed all three of the kids’ performances, Olivia Lynes and Bodhi Rae Breathnach included.

Lastly, I want to talk about the big hitters: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, and Chloé Zhao. Each of the three of them were operating at the top of their game, from Zhao’s great and emotionally understanding direction to Paul Mescal’s troubled and fatherly performance as Billy Shakes (in my opinion, his best performance since Aftersun). I side with just about everyone on this when I say, though, that Jessie Buckley brought the house down. What a layered, tragic, emotionally heavy performance! I haven’t seen much of her career, but this has to be the pinnacle. I’ve cried in maybe three movies in my life, and she got me multiple times today. Transcendent, powerful, Oscar winner, easy.

I’ve mentioned in the past that my favorite movies are the ones that exude magic, and usually that means musicals or great comedy or animation, but for Hamnet, there was magic in the sadness. The characters’ abilities to reckon with and triumph over their sadness, at least in part, made Hamnet magical. Was it perfect? Maybe not—I could’ve used a bit more emotional variety (it was SO sad) and at times, the story moved pretty slowly, but I’m sold on just about everything else Hamnet offered. I’m sold on Chloé Zhao, I’m sold on Jessie Buckley, and I’d even like to read some more Shakespeare. That kind of result takes magic.