Chloé Zhao is back. After her Oscar win for “Nomadland” and the Marvel flop of “Eternals,” the filmmaker has returned to more “personal” cinema.
Her new film, “Hamnet,” adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestseller about Agnes and William Shakespeare’s love, grief, and the death of their son, Hamnet — a tragedy that may have birthed Hamlet. We now have our first trailer.
Visually, the films looks gorgeous. The rest of the trailer is more or less what I expected. I’m still not entirely sold on the story. One thing’s for certain: Jesse Buckley sells this one hard. Great to see Paul Mescal stretching his range by taking on the role of a depressed dude.
The film test screened a bunch of times, with those I had spoken to mixed on the film, one person told me it was “misery porn.” Another viewer summed it up as “two hours of Buckley looking miserable on screen.”
“Hamnet” is set to world premiere at Telluride this weekend. It will have its Canadian premiere at TIFF. Surprisingly, no Venice bow, and that’s despite Zhao winning the Golden Lion for “Nomadland” just five years ago. Food for thought.
Paul Mescal and Buckley lead the cast. 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. The story also draws a loose connection between Hamnet’s death and the eventual creation of Hamlet.
Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, who was originally supposed to direct, backed the film. DP Łukasz Żal (“The Zone of Interest”) is described as giving the film its lush textures, while Max Richter provides the musical score.
“Hamnet,” helmed by Focus Features, hits US theaters on November 27.
While Alfonso Cuarón directed “Disclaimer,” a 2024 Apple TV series, the Mexican-born filmmaker hasn’t helmed a feature film in nearly eight years, not since his Oscar-winning “Roma” in 2018.