Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” sits at the top of my list for best films released in 2025, despite how late into the year it was released.
This is also despite how late I watched it. As a former member of the group that wasn’t willing to give it a chance, I can now say I’m glad I did, as it was beautifully executed.
The film currently has 8 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. After internally debating what could be so important about this film, I decided to take a look for myself.
There was some background knowledge you had to know going into it, like the summary of the play “Hamlet” and some basic information about Shakespeare’s family. Besides this, it was easy to follow along.
The film’s opening text tells us the words ‘‘Hamnet’ and ‘Hamlet’ are interchangeable, per Stratford records in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.”
It successfully makes the audience think this story could be real: Two people meet in Stratford, and their life becomes magical together.
To achieve this end, Zhao took historical records and created the beautiful Shakespeare family on screen. We are first introduced to characters Agnes and William Shakespeare through their love story. Eventually, we meet their children, Susanna, Eliza and Hamnet Shakespeare.
It’s easy to feel connected to the family, which is rare for films with so much plot. Zhao takes the time to introduce the family members one by one, focusing on the most important characters, Agnes, William and Hamnet Shakespeare.
Zhao takes these characters and perfectly places them in her film’s indoor and outdoor settings. The indoor scenes are more brown in tone, while the outdoor spaces are full of greenery.
Color plays a role not only in scenery, but in the film’s costuming.
William and Agnes Shakespeare both wear a default costume throughout the film that represents their characters. Agnes Shakespeare wears a bright red dress while William Shakespeare wears a worn blue outfit. As their emotions change from bliss to grief, their costumes change hue to match their internal darkness.
This can be seen when Agnes Shakespeare wears a brown gown instead of red when she is experiencing grief, or when William Shakespeare wears more upscale outfits when experiencing emotional distance.
The outfits themselves change the entire palette of the scene. I soon realized the only reason the film seemed so colorful to me was because of the characters’ outfits, not their surrounding environment.
Many films rely on the color surrounding their characters to set a scene and draw an audience in. But Zhao uses her characters to paint the scene in so many different colors. Each time a character is on screen, they manage to stand out without being front and center.
Aside from the strategic use of color throughout the film, the camera angles range between wide and shallow shots. A scene shot with shallow depth features William Shakespeare rehearsing his play “Hamlet” with his actors.
William Shakespeare shouts at one of the actors rehearsing and it appears almost as if he’s yelling at himself. He walks back and forth in tune with the actor without noticing. The scene later becomes more ironic later in the film when you discover he is walking parallel with the actor playing Hamlet, which illustrates his disguised grief for his son.
The play presented in the film connects Agnes and William Shakespeare through their shared yet distinct experience with grief. It is excellent commentary on a couple who have experienced grief but find a way to meet in the middle to understand each other.
William Shakespeare practically ripped his heart out creating “Hamlet” and then presented it for all to see on stage.
It is clear how Shakespeare wishes he were dead instead of his son. You have to believe what the characters believe to enjoy the art and to understand what they’re going through. Viewing this in the theatre was painfully beautiful.
