Hamnet (2025)

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet is far greater than the sum of its already considerable parts, and her return to character-driven drama after the Marvel detour of Eternals feels like a triumph. At the center is Jessie Buckley’s layered, understated performance as Agnes, which anchors the whole film. Buckley never reaches for easy emotion; the grief and tenderness she brings to the role give the story its weight.

Zhao, who wrote, directed, edited and produced the film, keeps her focus on her actors and on the strained but loving marriage at the heart of the story. That marriage is both specific and universal, and the film’s portrait of how grief can pull a couple apart feels intimate rather than generic. The filmmaking serves the performances rather than competing with them.

The climax, with Agnes watching the premiere of Hamlet, is devastatingly cathartic. It is the moment where the film’s themes of loss and art come together, and it leaves the audience emotionally spent.