There are tons of adaptations of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the past century-plus of cinema, including a Best Picture winner from 1949. But there’s only been so adaptation so far of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet, which is a work of fiction taking its inspiration from Shakespeare’s life.
The playwright’s son Hamnet really did die tragically at 11 years old; O’Farrell’s 2020 novel speculates about the emotional repercussions of that death on Shakespeare (played by Paul Mescal) and his wife, here called Agnes (Jessie Buckley), and how it might have influenced the writing of Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. (As the movie points out upfront, the two similar-sounding names were considered interchangeable in Shakespeare’s time.)
Hamnet was a major player at this year’s Oscars, riding a wave of positive reviews to eight nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Director Chloé Zhao, Best Actress (Buckley), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Casting. Buckley gives
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