Synopsis: From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, HAMNET tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
What We Thought:
Hamnet is a well made and well acted film, but it’s also kind of boring for three-quarters of the movie. If you love Shakespeare you’ll probably enjoy the film, but it definitely takes time to build up despite some beautiful cinematography.
It tells the story of William Shakespeare meeting his wife, having a family and suffering a life changing loss that would lead to his writing of Hamlet. It’s interesting and Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley are very good as Mr. and Mrs. Shakespeare, but it’s also a bit of a slog to get through. Director Chloé Zhao paints a beautiful picture with a fantastic backdrop and set design, but not a lot happens while you wait for the plot to kick in. It’s not unwatchable, but if I had seen it at home I definitely would have been fiddling with my phone until the third act.
That third act is pretty brilliant though. I won’t say what happens in case people don’t know what loss the Bard suffers, but once that happens the film pretty much becomes a stage performance of Hamlet. Buckley’s character goes to visit her husband because she’s not happy about what he’s written, but once she witnesses the performance of Hamlet and how it’s William’s cathartic release of grief, she understands. The stage performance of Hamlet in Hamnet is great, I actually wish the rest of the movie had a similar tone and pacing.
The two leads of Hamnet are two of the better actors going today and Zhao is a respected and award winning director in her own right, but I didn’t love the film. I understand why others will and I can see it making many top ten lists, but it won’t make mine. Too much time is spent before the loss that you almost forget what the film is supposed to be about. But if you enjoy beautiful scenery, two leads doing their best and great production value you should enjoy it.
The Nerds Templar 