“To die, to sleep; To sleep: Perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;” – Hamlet, William Shakespeare
I’m not a Shakespeare person. Let’s just throw that out there right away. Not necessarily on purpose, but my only experience with Shakespeare is reading ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in Mrs. Baudhuin’s ninth grade English class, watching ‘The Lion King’, and seeing the musical ‘Something Rotten’. I’ve always appreciated how much other people love his work, but have always kept it at arms length. All of this to say, I was a little wary going into ‘Hamnet’. I didn’t want to feel alienated by yet another “artsty” Oscar-bait movie that is pretending to say something profound, but really just using big words to prove it’s smarter than I am. Gratefully, ‘Hament’ did not alienate me, but instead assimilated me into a quiet life of choices and regret.
I’ve been on the borderline with director Chloe Zhao’s past projects. I liked ‘Nomadland’ but found it a little too quiet to really connect with. ‘Eternals’ was a risky and fresh take on a (in my opinion) dying genre. With ‘Hamnet’, I can see where Zhao shines, and it’s in her characters and storytelling. Admittedly, I struggled in the first thirty or so minutes of ‘Hamnet’. I struggled with the intimacy and space it gave it’s main characters, Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and William (Paul Mescal). I would even call the first act of the film boring in parts. When it came to the end of the film though, those quiet and simple conversations came full-circle in a deeply satisfying and impactful way.
I did use the term “Oscar-bait” as a pejorative earlier, but at times this felt like the best sizzle-reel Jessie Buckley could ever ask for. Her performance in particular was guttural and genuine and involved making the audience feel and see things outside of perfection. Paul Mescal is great as well, but the real heart is told by Jessie Buckley’s Agnes. My other standout would be the Hamnet/Hamlet casting of the Jupe brothers, Noah and Jacobi. What an incredible and downright heartbreaking pair. Deservedly so, most of the attention will probably be on Jacobi playing the young and pure-of-heart Hamnet, but I think Noah and his Hamlet delivery were other-worldly.
I’m going to stop myself before I get to the symbolism and parallelism with Greek mythology, but just know there is a lot to chew on there as well.
‘Hamnet’ is a true work of art. I don’t foresee myself choosing to watch this again anytime soon due to the heaviness I felt while leaving the theater, but as humans we need to confront those feelings as well. To cry or not to cry, that is the question.
8.5/10
CinemAddikted 