By 
That’s right, folks, The Last Movie Outpost is going highbrow with a review of Oscar favourite Hamnet.
Based on true events, Hamnet follows the life of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) and their three children. Tragedy threatens to tear their family apart but may also provide inspiration for Shakespeare’s greatest work.
I’m talking about Hamlet, of course (cue a Hamlet vs Macbeth smackdown in the comments. Just remember to keep it highbrow).
The movie is called Hamnet because if was called Hamlet then people would think it was an adaptation of Hamlet. Plus, Hamnet is the name of Shakespeare’s son.
Pictured: Hamnet
A title card at the beginning informs us that names such as Hamlet and Hamnet were interchangeable back then – spelling be damned. Shakespeare’s wife was commonly called Anne, but also known as Agnes and is referred to as such in this movie. Shakespeare is…Shakespeare, although nobody says his name until the last act.
The marketing for Hamnet gives away the fact that Mescal is playing Shakespeare, so it’s not exactly a revelation. But if you went into the movie blind, it might almost be considered a twist. Not quite, but almost. Shakespeare’s career is not the focus of this movie.
In fact, just ignore the marketing entirely if you can because it gives away a huge chunk of the movie that the audience ought to be discovering for themselves.
Prophecies
Hamnet mostly focusses on the family’s life in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare disappears to London for extended periods, but we seldom follow him there.
Jessie Buckley’s Agnes serves as the main protagonist. When we meet her, Agnes is an enigmatic, earth mother type, rumoured to be the daughter of a witch. She wears red in a world of green, spends her days wandering the woods with her pet hawk and prepares herbal remedies. She’s doing little to dispel those rumours. Agnes emerges from the woods one day and wins Shakespeare’s heart.
Pictured: a witch
Hamnet is based on historical fact, although the details have been heavily fictionalised. Very little is known about the real Anne Hathaway, so her character in Hamnet is almost entirely invented (with a faint echo of Macbeth’s witches). But it works to gives the movie a slight supernatural twist.
Agnes believes in omens and prophecies and is told that she will have two children present at her deathbed. When Agnes gives birth to twins Hamnet and Judith, after having daughter Susanna, she becomes convinced that sickly Judith is in danger.
When the bubonic plague pays Stratford a visit, those fears are realised. The movie plays well with the jeopardy surrounding Agnes’ children. Again, it is a shame that the marketing gives away so much of the story. If you didn’t know the outcome in advance, it might almost be considered a twist. Not quite, but almost.
Overall
Hamnet hits hard and doesn’t shy away from displaying raw emotions. It plays into every parent’s worst fears. If you have young children, think carefully before choosing to watch this one (or be prepared to blubber).
The performances are excellent, especially Jessie Buckley. Hamnet can be heavy, slow and gloomy at times, and it loses sight of William and Anne’s relationship. You can sense the distance between them, and it isn’t clear whether they even care for each other. I suppose that’s the point, but it comes across as too cold for my taste.
The final act works better if you are familiar with Hamlet. Agnes journeys to London to watch the play, notices parallels to their lives and witnesses her husband’s grief playing out on stage.
The bittersweet ending suggests that while Hamlet may provide William and Agnes an avenue to deal with their grief through the healing power of art, it may not bring them closer together. Allusions to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a tale that Shakespeare woos Agnes with early in the movie, is hard to ignore when William turns to face her in the crowd.
The extent to which Hamlet was inspired by the events in Shakespeare’s life is an argument best left to scholars, but the movie makes a decent case for it.
Hamnet is hardly a fun time at the flicks, and it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you can handle the subject matter and occasional self-importance, there’s a lot to recommend.
The post Review: HAMNET appeared first on Last Movie Outpost.
