Hamnet

Name: Hamnet
Director: Chloé Zhao
Genre: Drama
Released: 2025-01-01
Duration: 2h 6m
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Jacobi Jupe

PG-13 2025 Drama · At 126 minutes, it moves with deliberate, meditative pacing that rewards patient viewers.

Critical acclaim consensus

7.8/10

IMDb

86%

Fresh

84/100

Metacritic

★

4.19/5

Letterboxd

🎬

7.7/10

TMDB

Before you watch

Fictional story of Shakespeare writing Hamlet after his son Hamnet dies

Rewatch

one and done

Attention

full focus

Phone-check

low

The brief

Chloé Zhao trades her dusty American highways for Elizabethan England, but keeps that same patient, naturalistic approach that made Nomadland sing. Jessie Buckley anchors this gorgeous grief study with a performance that's all quiet fury and maternal ache, while Paul Mescal brings surprising vulnerability to Shakespeare as a young father drowning in loss. The film moves like a slow river - meditative and sometimes frustrating, but building to moments that hit like lightning. Perfect for anyone who loved The Power of the Dog or wants their period dramas more about emotional landscapes than corsets and carriages.

intimate grief study elizabethan naturalism maternal anguish poetic melancholy slow-burn emotional literary adaptation contemplative drama

The verdict

If you have patience for slow-burn character studies and appreciate quietly devastating performances about grief and loss, this is essential viewing that rewards contemplation. If you need faster pacing or prefer plot-driven narratives over emotional introspection, the deliberate rhythm will likely test your endurance despite the beautiful craftsmanship.