Only six reviews are in so far for Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” and I’ll admit it—I stand corrected. They’re all raves, from The Playlist, Next Best Picture, Variety, THR, Deadline and Vulture.
This one had raised some red flags after skipping Venice and NYFF, not to mention poor test screenings earlier in the year. But skeptics, myself very much included, seem to have been proven wrong. That trailer released last week already hinted at something visually stunning, and now I’m sold. Looking forward to seeing what the buzz is about at TIFF.
The critical consensus is that the film is a miserable experience—grappling with death and grief—yet executed with remarkable skill. Jessie Buckley is widely praised for a devastating performance. She cries a lot in this film. Zhao’s direction shines throughout, while Łukasz Żal’s cinematography emerges as one of the film’s defining strengths.
