Oscar-winning director (for Nomadland) Chloé Zhao returns to form with her film Hamnet, based on the 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell. The film covers a tragic event in the early life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley, who scored an Oscar nomination for her work) and their three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith.
Editor's note: Most historians list the name of Shakespeare's wife as Anne Hathaway. But her father used the name Agnes in his will, so she's called Agnes here (given the ecclesial Latin pronunciation of AH-nyes). We do know Anne (or Agnes) was seven years older than her husband and very likely pregnant at the time of their marriage.
Little else is known of her, other than she did continue to live in Stratford-upon-Avon as her husband was in London -- and outlived him -- and their son Hamnet did indeed die at the age of 11 in the summer of 1596.
In general, aside from a few biographical details, the private life of William Shakespeare has remained just that: private. He is known mostly through his work, leaving much room for speculation and invention.
However, there is a considerable body of evidence that Shakespeare's immediate family and other relatives were "recusants," continuing to persist in being Catholic even under Protestant persecution during most of the Tudor dynasty. Many also hold that Shakespeare himself was a secret Catholic.
But, while Christianity was a deeply embedded part of culture and daily life in Shakespeare's time, it's almost entirely omitted from Zhao's movie.
As an onscreen prologue from a 2004 article states in the film, and as as the novel explains at the outset, during the Elizabethan era, the name Hamnet was synonymous with the name Hamlet.
The novel also recounts that the little we know of William Shakespeare, we do know he and his wife issued three children, one of whom died young and was named Hamnet.
“Who’s there?” opens Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. Modern ears know the line more of as the start of a knock-knock joke. In the play, a night guard utters the line evoking suspense engulfing the tone of the rest of the play.
With King Hamlet of Denmark recently murdered, the guard tries to ascertain a presence nearby he can’t quite make out.
Shakespeare’s, in my opinion, best play ponders the deepest questions of existence: is this life all there is? Or is there something beyond? Where do our loved ones go? And if they go somewhere is there some time spent on earth sorting through unresolved issues?
Without spoiling the film, Zhao’s story (co-written with O'Farrell) eventually considers the bigger questions, even alluding to a ghost presence in the final sequence set in the old Globe Theatre.
Much of the story, however, takes place in the here and now and deals exclusively with the theme of grief. Agnes, an herbalist, dabbles in a bit of nature worship, spending an inordinate amount of time, overly appreciating the flora and fauna of her surroundings.
When tragedy hits with the death of her son, she plunges into a catatonic state, barely able to make it through the most menial of tasks. Her husband, Will, also mourns, but we feel less concerned about him: practically speaking, he needs to provide for his family and how he provides for them (writing) also serves as his creative way of overcoming grief.
When I graduated seminary, a priest gifted me a couple of books arguing the Bard was Catholic. They were the best gifts, functioning almost as detective novels, uncovering evidence from Shakespeare’s life and works, showing him to be supremely Catholic and not the first secular author, as others would have you believe.
Regarding the life of Shakespeare, it’s widely believed that Shakespeare was Catholic. His works are often set either in Catholic countries or in pre-Reformation England; Catholic clergy are often-sympathetic characters; and Sacraments are mentioned.
The Ghost at the center of Hamlet and end of Hamnet incorporate the singularly Catholic teaching on Purgatory. The acknowledgement of deep suffering and grief comes as Good Friday signifiers.
Holding out hope for something better for our loved ones and for ourselves, no matter how long it takes to get there would also indicate belief in the Resurrection. Hamnet adapted one of Shakespeare’s best plays and for her efforts, I believe Zhao directed the best film of 2025.
Image: Paul Mescal stars as William Shakespeare, Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Susanna in director Chloé Zhao’s HAMNET, a Focus Features release. Credit: Agata Grzybowska / © 2025 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
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