“Grief makes one hour ten,” William Shakespeare

Hamnet directed by Chloé Zhao, based on the book of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, is a profound portrayal of grief and the love that follows it.

The film follows the fictionalized story of a young William (“Will”) Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), as he begins a job as a latin tutor where he meets Agnes (Jessie Buckley). Agnes is portrayed as one with nature, having some spiritual connection that has come from her ancestors of women who can see beyond visible things. When Will and Agnes meet, they instantly strike a bond, and they quickly become married, and soon after that welcome their first child, Susana (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). From there, Agnes and Will welcome two more into their family, twins Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and Judith (Olivia Lynes).

The warmth of these early moments serves as a quiet juxtaposition to the grief that defines the rest of the film, reminding the audience that loss is only powerful because of the love that came before it.

Will is often in London, working at the Globe Theatre. One particular time that Will is gone, Judith falls ill, and it is inferred that it is the black plague. As Judith’s condition worsens, Agnes falls deeper in desperation, trying every remedy possible to save her. As a young Hamnet watches his sister slowly fade away, he becomes desperate following the words of his father to “be brave.” Hamnet lies down next to his sister and asks death to take him instead, and death obliges.

Jupe delivers a heartwrenching performance in these scenes. He expertly shows the fear that follows him as he takes the place of his sister, and the acceptance that follows once he understands what he’s done. His performance was one of the highlights of the whole film for me.

Through stillness and eerie quiet, Zhao highlights the fragility of life, showing how abruptly it can change. At the center of the scene is Hamnet’s devotion to his sister, a small but powerful act that captures the depth of their bond and makes the loss even more affecting.

Buckley’s performance as the grieving mother, Agnes, was beautiful. She expertly portrayed the resentment that Agnes had for Will, as she felt abandoned by him, but also the extreme grief she experienced in the loss of her son.

After Hament’s death fractures their marriage, Will returns to London and channels his grief into writing “Hamlet”. When Agnes later attends the play’s opening night, she watches their private loss unfold on stage, transformed into something larger than the two of them.

This moment becomes pivotal because Shakespeare’s creation of “Hamlet” turns his private mourning into something visible and shared, symbolically preserving Hamnet’s memory while opening a space where grief is no longer isolated. Agnes, the audience, and the community are able to witness, feel and participate in a collective act of remembrance, making loss something held together rather than held alone.

Rather than offering a resolution to the grief, Zhao instead focuses on how people can be brought together through shared grief. Because what is grief if not an expression of what love was once there? Through the final scene Zhao presents art as a way of holding on to that love, showing how through Hamlet Will made the memory of his son transcend time. Even now, nearly 400 years later, people still experience that grief and love when reading or seeing Hamlet.