Given how influential he is in English storytelling, the reverence towards Shakespeare is natural. But because of it, there’s a distance placed between him, his work, and the world today. Shakespeare is on the pedestal. It’s because of this that we were surprised at Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet. Speculating on how the death of Shakespeare’s son affected his work, Hamnet humanizes the playwright in a way we haven’t seen before. It’s not Shakespeare in Love. The gaps we have about the extent of his real life are, instead, rewritten to reflect the way grief and love are what connects us with every human, including the Bard himself.
"The movie whispers poetic sublimities in your ear one minute and tosses its prestige ambitions in your face the next. The whiplash is disorienting, but, somewhat paradoxically, the characters’ romantic upheaval provides its own center of gravity."
— Justin Chang
"While there’s definitely an anatomical study of heterosexual relationships here that sings with a modern resonance, the film’s coup de grâce frames art itself as an arcane source of mental wellbeing."
— David Jenkins
The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Oscars
8 nominations
Golden Globes
1 win, 5 nominations
BAFTA
2 wins, 9 nominations
SAG Awards
1 win, 2 nominations
DGA
1 nomination
WGA
1 nomination
