First 'Hamnet' Trailer Lands — Zhao Reimagines Shakespeare’s Heartbreak, And I’m Already Intrigued
Exploring how tragedy shaped both a family and a masterpiece.
Fascination with the way cinema reimagines literary history led me to the newly released trailer for Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet.
Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the film stars Paul Mescal as Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his wife Agnes. It explores their love and the grief of losing their son Hamnet — a loss thought to inspire Hamlet. Focus Features releases it on 27 November, expanding 12 December.
Love, Loss and the Bard
The trailer shows a bond marked by tenderness and sorrow. Mescal plays Shakespeare as a grieving husband, while Buckley gives Agnes her own strong voice. Their poetic, almost mystical exchanges suggest Zhao values emotional truth over strict biography — and isn’t that what stays with us?
Zhao’s Vision and a Stellar Team
Zhao co-wrote the script with O’Farrell, keeping the novel’s heartbeat and bringing the sensorial style that won her an Oscar for Nomadland. With cinematographer Łukasz Żal, composer Max Richter, and producers Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg, the film premieres at Toronto next month as a clear awards-season contender.
