Hamnet (2025) Review – Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal & Chloé Zhao's Award-Winning Drama
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Hamnet (2025) Review – Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal & Chloé Zhao's Award-Winning Drama
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We're reviewing Hamnet, the 2025 historical drama directed by Chloé Zhao and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. The film is based on Maggie O'Farrell's bestselling novel and tells the story of William Shakespeare's family — specifically his wife Agnes and their 11-year-old son Hamnet, whose death from plague in 1596 is widely believed to have inspired the creation of Hamlet.
It's a film about grief, marriage, and what it costs to make art while the people around you are suffering. Buckley won the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance here, and it's the kind of role that stays with you long after the credits roll.
We break down everything — the performances, Chloé Zhao's direction, the emotional gut-punch of the third act, and whether the film lives up to the enormous awards season buzz it generated. Does Hamnet earn its reputation as one of the best films of 2025? We get into it.
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