Hamnet: An excruciatingly raw story about a crumbling marriage after the loss of a child
Blazing Reader,
For Valentine's Day, Ina and I went to see a film about a crumbling marriage after the loss of a child. Not exactly the most romantic pick, which the movie poster probably hints at:
Hamnet is the 2025 Golden Globe award-winning biographical film about William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway, as they cope with the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet (no, that's not a typo!).
Most of the spotlight is on Agnes, as for much of the film, Will's off in London writing and directing plays, while Agnes commands the screen with scenes so emotionally raw they are almost excruciating to watch. Actress Jessie Buckley can swing the pendulum from joy to grief, to awe and fear:
Between superb performances and an excellent historical recreation (complete with dirt roads and gloomy interiors), the film almost feels like a sixteenth-century reality TV show.
The only thing the movie lacked was humour. Other than an amusing theatrical performance by the Shakespeare's children...
...and a few mildly funny comments by Shakespeare, this film about the world's most famous comedy writer came off a bit too heavy. Even the bard's tragedies, including Hamlet itself, had far more humour.
Hamnet, of course, is no "comedy of errors." It's a film that embraces the grief of losing one's child while confronting the ghosts of guilt and frustration that haunt the parents left behind. Fortunately, its conclusion offers a satisfying emotional resolution, tying directly into the first stage performance of Hamlet at the Globe Theatre.
Based on the novel by Maggie O'Farrell, I wonder if the book offers a more balanced inclusion of William Shakespeare's role in the story. His rise to stardom feels almost like a footnote in the movie. Little is shown of his journey from poor Latin tutor to wealthy playwright. His struggle between fulfilling his calling in London and avoiding his family in Stratford is largely overshadowed by the death of their child. If one didn't know who Shakespeare was, the film's gaping plot holes would have been hard to ignore.
Nonetheless, a beautiful film, offering solace to anybody who has lost a loved one to Hamlet/Hamnet's "undiscovered country."
—John C.A. Manley
P.S. You can watch the trailer for Hamnet here.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
