--- title: "Hamnet: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/hamnet/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/hamnet" critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Hamnet (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 83 from 16 reviews: 14 positive, 1 mixed, 1 negative. ## Radio Times — James Mottram Rating 5/5. 5 January 2026. The critic calls the film a masterly, intimate study of loss that avoids glossy romance in favour of raw family drama and creative catharsis. Buckley delivers one of her greatest performances as Agnes, whose grief fuels an unforgettable finale centred on the power of Shakespeare’s art. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/hamnet-review/) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 5/5. 23 October 2025. The critic hails Buckley and Mescal’s career-best performances in Zhao’s emotionally overwhelming Tudor drama about loss, motherhood and the redemptive power of art. It is described as a deep-felt ode to resilience that demands towels rather than tissues for its cathartic finale. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/hamnet-review-2025) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 95/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2025. Festival review. The critic deems it devastating and perhaps the most emotionally shattering movie seen in years, succeeding in exploring the inception of Hamlet as a vessel for confronting grief and loss. Zhao’s linear adaptation, aided by Richter’s score, finds melancholy in movement while Buckley and Mescal deliver phenomenal performances that make the life-to-art connections feel supernatural. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/hamnet-review-the-most-devastating-movie-ive-seen-in-years.html) ## The i Paper — Francesca Steele Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 January 2026. The film is profoundly moving and gut-wrenching, with Jessie Buckley giving a performance for the ages as Agnes. Zhao's direction and the cinematography create a pastoral fever-dream that balances despair with a strange optimism about life and art. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/sobbed-through-hamnet-gut-wrenching-4104154) ## The Times — Kevin Maher Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 January 2026. This transcendent adaptation will be an Oscar frontrunner, with grief and beauty in equal measure. Buckley gives a performance for the ages as Agnes, and Zhao directs impeccably with subtle emotional logic. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/hamnet-movie-review-paul-mescal-jessie-buckley-d0bwdn0md) ## Empire — John Nugent Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 January 2026. The film is a wrenching contemplation of grief and death, with strong performances especially from Jessie Buckley serving a clear vision from Chloé Zhao. The heart-rending finale at the Globe provides catharsis through the staging of Hamlet. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/hamnet/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Angie Han Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2025. Festival review. The critic calls it a tremendously acted heartbreaker that pairs joy and fear, love and loss in a cycle as old as life, turning them into something gorgeous and cathartic through Zhao’s direction. Buckley’s raw, naked performance as Agnes evolving through grief stands out as especially stunning, alongside strong work from Mescal. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-paul-mescal-chloe-zhao-1236357328/) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 8 January 2026. This sublime adaptation could not have been done better, with Mescal superb as grieving Shakespeare and Buckley’s performance ringing true. The film is devastating yet not a downer thanks to its sublime final reel. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2025/10/11/hamnet-film-adaptation-review/) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Rating Critics Pick. 30 August 2025. Festival review. Chloé Zhao delivers a radical, emotionally raw and dangerous adaptation centered on feminine energy and the acceptance of loss. Jessie Buckley gives a heroic, devastating performance as Agnes that eclipses the rest of the film. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2025/film/reviews/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-1236502623/) ## The AV Club — Jesse Hassenger Rating B+. 25 November 2025. The film is an emotional wrecking ball that sticks the landing with a stunning final act of catharsis and communion through art, rooted in Buckley’s ferocious, raw performance as Agnes. It could use more of Zhao’s signature wandering freedom in the midsection, but the connection between life, grief, and Hamlet remains powerful and richer than a simple tearjerker. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/hamnet-review) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 6 January 2026. The film powerfully reimagines the loss of Hamnet as the source of Hamlet through a romantic fantasy that deepens the mystery with creative audacity. Performances by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal captivate, supported by beautiful cinematography. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/06/hamnet-review-paul-mescal-jessie-buckley-shakespeare-hamlet) ## Los Angeles Times — Amy Nicholson Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 25 November 2025. The lush adaptation sinks under nonstop crying and a dull, stammering portrayal of Shakespeare that lacks wit or depth. Buckley's raw performance as the witchy Agnes shows every variation of grief but the story feels soggy and overly manipulative. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-11-25/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-paul-mescal-joe-alwyn-chloe-zhao) ## Financial Times Rating ★★★☆☆. 8 January 2026. The film is both a moving meditation on loss and a slick weepie, with strong performances from Mescal and Buckley. It risks prettifying despair and turning the story into a polished hymn to great art rather than capturing life’s messiness. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/b8fcd9a6-e65d-4333-b547-2c3550d9cf84) ## Screen Daily 9 September 2025. Festival review. The critic finds Zhao’s adaptation a delicate exploration of how art addresses but never fully heals personal pain, anchored by Buckley and Mescal’s expertly modulated performances. It is presented as a potent love story charting the couple’s romance and the son’s death that inspired Hamlet. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-and-paul-mescal-power-chloe-zhaos-potent-shakespeare-drama/5208708.article) ## Sight and Sound 7 January 2026. The critic praises Zhao’s immersive adaptation for capturing the raw emotional currents of desire, grief and creative transformation between Agnes and Will. Buckley and Mescal’s performances anchor a film that shows how art channels personal loss without fully healing it. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/hamnet-chloe-zhaos-adaptation-maggie-ofarrells-best-selling-novel-devastating-exploration-loss-creative-alchemy) ## The New York Times — Alissa Wilkinson Rating Critic’s Pick. 26 November 2025. The film is ardent and searing with heartache and beauty, though it occasionally veers into sentimentality that the director cannot fully control. Jessie Buckley gives a magnificent, ferocious performance as Agnes that anchors the story. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/movies/hamnet-review.html) ## Collider — Ross Bonaime Rating 9/10. 8 September 2025. Festival review. The critic calls the film a towering work and one of the year's best, emotionally devastating yet cathartic in showing how art heals from immense pain and loss. They single out the tender, heartbreaking performances by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal as among the year's best. [Read the review](https://collider.com/hamnet-review-paul-mescal-jessie-buckley-chloe-zhao/) ## The Playlist — Gregory Ellwood Rating A-. 30 August 2025. Festival review. The critic hails the film as an expressionistic masterwork and welcome return for Zhao, with Buckley and Mescal delivering gut-wrenching, bone-deep performances that make the emotional intensity arresting and authentic. The final act’s gut-punch moments, Zhao’s world-building, and the score by Max Richter are highlighted as particularly powerful. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-paul-mescal-are-utterly-extraordinary-in-chloe-zhaos-expressionistic-wonder-telluride-20250830/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Rating 8/10. 25 November 2025. The critic finds the film devastating and effective at evoking tears through its focus on grief and loss, with Buckley’s raw, heartbreaking performance as Agnes singled out as brilliant and the emotional centerpiece. The staging of key late sequences and the score are noted as especially powerful, though the overall tone is acknowledged as relentlessly bleak. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/2034805/hamnet-movie-review/) ## The Skinny — Stefania Sarrubba Rating 3/5. 5 January 2026. The critic finds it a gorgeous film about catharsis through art but notes its contrived elements, tension, discomfort, and lack of rhythm make for an alienating watch, while praising Buckley's magnificent performance. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/hamnet-review) ## Deadline 30 August 2025. Festival review. The review highlights Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal's magnificent performances in Chloé Zhao’s emotional story of love, death, Shakespeare and art. It praises the film as a stunning tale that moves from love story to deep pain and ultimately relief and hope. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2025/08/hamnet-review-jessie-buckley-paul-mescal-chloe-zhao-telluride-1236501946/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 4 out of 5. 21 October 2025. The critic praises the film's focus on Agnes (Anne Hathaway) and Buckley's tour de force performance as the emotional core, highlighting the exploration of domestic tragedy and loss from the family's perspective rather than Shakespeare's. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/hamnet-review-shakespeare-greatest-tragedy/) ## Digital Spy — Ian Sandwell Rating 5 stars. 14 October 2025. The critic calls it one of the best movies of the year, praising the devastating yet life-affirming story of grief and the standout performances, especially Buckley's career-best turn. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a69027099/hamnet-review/) ## Film Stories — Maria Lattila 6 January 2026. The critic praises the film as a moving exploration of life, loss, grief, and creation centered on the parents' responses to tragedy rather than a standard Shakespeare biopic. Buckley’s raw, natural performance as Agnes stands out as the emotional core, with Zhao’s direction and Richter’s score singled out for deepening the impact of themes around enduring love and art born from pain. [Read the review](https://filmstories.co.uk/reviews/hamnet-review-to-cry-or-not-to-cry/) ## NME — Nick Levine Rating 4 stars. 8 January 2026. The critic describes it as a powerful portrait of grief, singling out Buckley's shattering performance as the driving force while noting some heavy-handed direction. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/hamnet-review-paul-mescal-jessie-bukley-shakespeare-chloe-zhao-3921781) ## The Wrap 26 November 2025. The critic calls Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” a towering achievement and one of the best films of the year or any year. It singles out the deeply felt direction, indelible performances by Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, and the profound exploration of loss, love and the power of art. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/hamnet-review-chloe-zhao/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/hamnet.md