Phrasemaker

★★★★☆

Gorgeously rendered in lush greenery and rustic charm, Hamnet presents as a period romance with a mystical twist. Jessie Buckley plays a witchy step-daughter out of place in her new family. Paul Mescal plays an intelligent aesthete, trapped by his stern father’s leatherwork. Together they share a whirlwind romance akin to Romeo and Juliet, but it’s only when they have children that the film starts in earnest.

That’s the pitch for Hamnet, but a richer, more moving story is hidden in its second half. If that has you curious, it’s worth leaving the review here to go watch it.

It’s in the second half that the film opens up. Jacobi Jupe joins the cast as a third protagonist with what might be the strongest performance in the film, and it moves away from its static location of quaint Stratford-Upon-Avon into bustling Jacobean London too. But it also leaves the opening Buckley/Mescal romance feeling like set dressing. Director Chloe Zhao gives Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal the difficult task of playing younger than they are (Mescal is playing 18 at 29 and Buckley is playing 26 at 36). The result are a few scenes where young love looks out place, and a romance that doesn’t feel quite right.

Even so, this ultimately works as a strength when the relationship hits the rocks. The couple are pulled in different directions the disparate threads of the film are finally pulled taut for the beautiful finale (whose perfect use of “On the Nature of Daylight” is definitely why Zhao chose Richter to compose).

It’s clear that the finale is Zhao’s favourite scene, and likely the reason she made the entire movie. Zhao isn’t interested in the historical aspect— the sets, grooming and costuming tend to be picture perfect and pretty rather than worn-in and realistic— but it’s hard to fault her for that. The finale will be everyone’s favourite scene. It’s perfectly executed, moving, and memorable (not to mention it cleverly features Jacobi Jupe’s brother, Noah Jupe).