According to Variety, Chloe Zhao's film, adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's novel "Hamnet," is highly anticipated and considered a strong contender for the 2026 Oscars. Zhao, the Chinese-born director who won an Oscar for "Nomadland," explores William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes (whose real name was Anne Hathaway) after the death of their son, Hamnet, from illness.
The producers said that in addition to depicting the grief of the English playwright, the film examines how this tragedy inspired the play "Hamlet." The work reveals the author's personal journey of confronting loss and finding solace through art.
The main cast includes Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, two rising stars in Hollywood. Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes serve as executive producers.
Irish author Maggie O'Farrell's novel "Hamnet" was published in 2020. Inspired by the death of William Shakespeare's 11-year-old son, Hamnet, and its connection to the play "Hamlet" written a few years later, the novel has been praised by critics for its emotional prose and the way it blends history and imagination to portray the tragedy with an intimate perspective. "Hamnet" won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2020 and was named Novel of the Year at the 2021 Dalkey Literary Awards.
Shakespeare's life has been portrayed on the big screen several times, most notably in John Madden's "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), which won seven Oscars, including Best Picture. The film "Hamlet" first premiered in 1921, with several versions made since. More recently, "All Is True" (2018), directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, depicted the final years of Shakespeare's life after the Globe Theatre fire in 1613.
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Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare in "Hamnet." Photo: Focus Features |
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a famous English playwright and poet, known as the "Bard of Avon" (Avon is the river associated with his birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon). He authored 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several shorter poems, which have been translated into numerous languages. Over 400 years later, Shakespeare's works continue to exert influence and are studied in schools worldwide.
Chloe Zhao, 43, is a Chinese-born director currently living and working in the US. She is known for her humanistic filmmaking style, exploring the lives of people in wild, often overlooked places. Her film "Nomadland" (2020) won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). She previously gained attention for "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" (2015) and "The Rider" (2017). Following the success of "Nomadland," Zhao was chosen to direct the Marvel blockbuster "Eternals" (2021).
Cat Tien (Variety)
