Ever wondered what inspired Shakespeare? Wonder no more. This film is a fictionalized representation of the intimate emotional tale of love, family and grief of William Shakespeare’s life and wife imagining what led to the creation of his masterpiece, Hamlet. We were spellbound watching Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal give profound and passionate performances as Will and Agnes. Plenty of buzz circling for awards for these two actors, as well as for Writer/Director Chloé Zhao. We saw the film with a rapt audience at the Austin Film Festival and you could hear a pin drop.
Zhao (Nomadland Oscar winner) is no stranger to complicated stories. She collaborated on this screenplay with Maggie O’Farrell who wrote the 2020 novel about the Bard Will’s love, family and grief he turned into a significant stage play. We first meet Agnes (Buckley) in an ethereal forest scene, lying on the ground outside a mysterious cave, odd to see in rural 16th century England. She’s one with nature, and the creatures of the forest, including a pet hawk. Her mother was considered a witch, and when she died, Agnes was adopted by strict matriarch Mary (Emily Watson), head of a family in Stratford-upon-Avon. Mary is wary of Agnes who is also considered to somewhat a witch with unusual powers and a gifted healer.
Will also lives there. He longs to be a writer, but must tutor Agnes’s brothers in Latin in order to work off his abusive glove maker father’s debt. When he comes upon headstrong Agnes, they are drawn to each other, each having dreams of their own and a strong attraction. Sparks fly. She becomes pregnant which does not please either family. She only gets support from her brother Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn).
After Will and Agnes marry, we get to see independent, nature-loving Agnes delivers a baby girl all by herself in the woods. Mary (Watson) is appalled and forbids her to do such again. Agnes has more pregnancies, this time delivering indoors, but showing Buckley struggling and suffering to portray how dangerous childbirth was in Shakespeare’s time. Oscar nominated Polish Cinematographer, Lukasz Zal captures Agnes’ pain with closeups of her distorted face in agony.
Will’s frustration with his father comes to a head with a fight. Agnes prompts her husband to leave sleepy Stratford for London to follow his dream to be a great writer. He comes back and forth. She gets pregnant again, but this time it’s twins. There’s a boy, she names Hamnet, and a girl Judith who appears to be stillborn. Agnes fight dramatically and desperately to bring the baby back to life. Buckley has played wild women in film before, in the thriller Beast and the extremely disturbing film Men. Here she lets loose as well. Thankfully, both babies survive.
As they grow up. Will is so taken with his son, (Jacobi Jupe) he prepares him to follow arts. They are close, but Will is so often away from the family, consumed and dedicated to writing in London. When Judith (Olivia Lynes) contracts The Plague. Hamnet sacrifices himself to save his sister. Jacobi Jupe gives an excruciating performance that will tear you apart. Will and Agnes are destroyed. Will can’t handle losing his son and goes back to London. Agnes feels abandoned.
The scenes of what she had to endure without Will home take their toll. Bartholomew, talks her into going to London to see Will. He seems disturbed directing young actor, (Noah Jupe, brother of Jacobi) who he wants to play Hamlet. The pinnacle of Mescal’s performance is when he gets so frustrated directing his actors, he recites the whole soliloquy expressing his dark feelings in, “To Be or Not To Be.”
Agnes has no idea what she’s about to discover. Buckley, grabs us with her stare as Agnes, watching Will direct the tragic masterpiece paying tribute to their son. Buckley’s most remarkable scene captures the long mesmerizing closeup of her transfixed face, realizing what Mescal’s Will created from their pain.
Writer/Director Zhao’s builds her script to that moment where Agnes finally sees her husband’s genius in action. Buckley gives a raging performance that sets her apart. Mescal is equally strong and passionate as Will. Zhao’s poignant film of love and grief triggers deep emotions. Many tears were shed at our screening. Bring tissues.
Focus Features 2 Hours 15 Minutes PG-13
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