Oscar Nominee Film Review: HAMNET

Go ahead and give Jessie Buckley the Oscar.

Also…add Paul Mescal to the top of the list of performers that SHOULD HAVE been nominated for an Oscar.

You can thank Oscar Winning Director Chloe Zhao (NOMADLAND) for these performances and for the rest of this moody, beautiful and emotionally effective film that is HAMNET.

Set in the 1590’s, HAMNET tells the tale of Agnes and Will who meet, fall in love and try to raise a family in England during the Elizabethan period.

Oh, did I mention that their last names were Shakespeare and that Agnes is referred to as a “forest witch" (which is another term for “healer”).

Put in Zhao’s practiced hands, HAMNET is all mood and atmosphere - and that’s a compliment. She sets the pace and the look early on and is true to her visual vision throughout crafting a tell that is one to be felt just as much as it is to be seen.

Helping that mood is the elevated performance of an Oscar-nominated Buckley (who was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2022 for THE LOST DAUGHTER). Buckley gives a performance for the ages embodying Agnes in such a way that she immediately captures the reality of this person and we experience the emotional highs and lows, the joys and the pains of this movie, through this character.

Of course, one cannot perform on that level without another actor helping to elevate every scene they are in and in Paul Mescal’s haunting performance as Will, she has found a very good scene partner. It’s a shame that Mescal is not nominated for an Oscar, for he deserves to be.

Also adding weight and gravitas to the precedings is Emily Watson (who has been nominated for Oscars back in 1997 and 1999). It’s good to see Watson given something meaty to dig into in her role as Agnes’ mother/mentor.

The score by Max Richter (Oscar Nominated) is haunting and foreboding, the Production and Costume Designs (both Oscar Nominated) are effective and rich and the Adapted Screenplay (by Zhao based on the book by Maggie O’Farrell - also Oscar Nominated) is strong.

But, make no mistake about it, this film is Zhao’s and her Oscar Nominated Direction is sure-handed, letting the film breathe in places it needs to and allowing the mood and the feel to haunt the audience throughout.

It’s not the fastest moving film you’ll ever see, but if you give it the space that it needs, HAMNET - and Buckley’s performance - should find a place in your heart.

Letter Grade: A-

8 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)