First Image from Chloé Zhao’s ‘Hamnet’ Starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal

UPDATE: We have our first look image of Chloe Zhao’s “Hamnet” which is set to have its world premiere at Telluride at the end of the month.

UPDATE: The unwritten rule of major festivals like Cannes and Venice is that if you win their top prize, chances are high they’ll welcome you back with your next film to compete again.

Chloé Zhao won the Golden Lion at Venice in 2020 with “Nomadland,” a film that went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture. She followed it with Marvel’s “Eternals”—a blockbuster that, unsurprisingly, skipped the festival circuit entirely.

Now, Zhao returns with “Hamnet.” Many expected it to bow at Venice, but I had my doubts, partly due to how the film tested with audiences and some mixed early word-of-mouth from fellow journalists. Sure enough, “Hamnet” isn’t headed to Venice. Instead, it will have its world premiere at Telluride before making its way to TIFF.I would bet good money that it got rejected by Venice.

I posted this in March 2025, which is when the film test screened …

Should we be worried about Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet”? Word is last night’s test screening didn’t go over well. Several attendees have described it as “misery porn,” lacking clear purpose or direction.

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley lead the cast, and while their performances are said to be solid, Zhao’s direction—and especially her screenwriting—are being called flat, with a tone that feels completely off. One viewer summed it up as “two hours of Buckley looking miserable on screen,” without much emotional depth or nuance to her grief.

The film, set in 1580s England during the Black Plague, reimagines the life of Agnes—William Shakespeare’s wife—as she faces the looming death of her son Hamnet. Shakespeare himself is barely present; his name is only spoken once near the end, and he’s otherwise referred to as “the Latin Tutor.” His absence during Hamnet’s final days creates an emotional chasm between him and Agnes, who is consumed by sorrow and feels betrayed by his distance. The story also draws a loose connection between Hamnet’s death and the eventual creation of Hamlet.

Stylistically, Zhao has apparently gone for bold choices that aren’t landing for everyone. One attendee described “the most extreme close-ups I’ve ever seen in a movie,” saying they now know “every freckle on Jessie Buckley’s face.” The boy playing Hamnet is reportedly a serious miscast, and Joe Alwyn fares little better. Much of the film features static, top-down shots—from ceilings, forest canopies, and overhead angles. The most effective sequences, according to early viewers, are the scenes of Buckley alone in the forest, embracing an eerie, witch-like solitude.

“Hamnet” was picked up in August by Focus Features for U.S. distribution. Zhao took over the project after Sam Mendes, who left to focus on his ambitious Beatles films. The film adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s prize-winning novel, clearly aiming for prestige territory, with acclaimed cinematographer Łukasz Żal (“The Zone of Interest”) behind the camera.

Zhao, who broke out with the indie “The Rider” in 2017 and swept the Oscars with “Nomadland,” has had a rockier path since, following the critical and fan backlash to Marvel’s “Eternals.” Early reactions suggest “Hamnet” may struggle to find the acclaim it was hoping for.