Nothing prepared me for the quiet war films like Hamnet are waging—against Hollywood's addiction to noise.
While the industry drowns in IP and franchises that sell like Funko Pops, Chloé Zhao is sneaking something strange and delicate into awards season. Hamnet, her adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's acclaimed novel, isn't here to give us Shakespeare the legend—it's about the hole he left behind.
Let's break this down.
Shakespeare Isn't the Hero Here—Grief Is
Set during the 1580s Black Plague, Hamnet follows Agnes, Shakespeare's wife, played by Jessie Buckley, as she stumbles through the emotional fallout of losing their child. It's a grief narrative in the skin of a historical drama.
Paul Mescal plays the absentee playwright, offstage for most of the tragedy. This isn't about how Hamlet was written. It's about the raw, aching silence that birthed it.
Focus Features knows what they're doing. November 27 for limited release, December 12 wide. Peak Oscar corridor.
And they didn't make this move blind—test screenings in March reportedly left audiences rattled (though reactions haven't been officially released). But the studio's confidence? Unmistakable.
Zhao vs. the Biopic Machine
Hollywood's recent biopics—Oppenheimer, Spencer, Blonde—cling to spectacle, even when they claim intimacy. Zhao, fresh off the blockbuster burnout of Eternals, is reverting to form. Think The Rider, not CGI celestial beings.
And the cinematographer? Lukasz Żal. The same eye behind The Zone of Interest—a film that turned historical horror into something numbly domestic and brutally elegant. Expect painterly grief. Expect stillness so loud it hurts.
This isn't your typical “how genius is born” arc. This is what genius costs others.
The Shakespeare Cinematic Universe? Not Quite
If you're expecting Shakespeare in Love 2: Sadder & Plaguer, don't. Hamnet is closer to Terrence Malick than to Oscar-bait tradition. And that's exactly why it might matter.
We've seen this kind of slow-burn drama gain traction before—think Phantom Thread or The Father. Films that sit with pain instead of solving it. But Hamnet could push that even further, making its female lead the lens rather than the muse.
Remember how Jackie reframed grief around a First Lady's public persona? Hamnet does the opposite: It zooms all the way in.
Would You Risk It?
Zhao's name might still carry the MCU baggage—but she's betting you remember Nomadland, not the Eternal cringe.
And if Hamnet really lands? It could finally convince Hollywood that the loudest story isn't always the most powerful. Sometimes, it's the quiet ones that bury deepest.
