Hamnet

My sweet boy.I am writing this the morning after. I had the worst sleep of my life because my eyes were burning, my head was throbbing and my chest felt like it was about to implode. So safe to say this was the best 2025 release I’ve seen so far. Having been moved to tears by the original novel, this was my most anticipated release of the year alongside Avatar: Fire and Ash and let me just say, this is a tough act to follow. Hamnet captured the tenderness and the heartbreak of the book with such accuracy I was speechless. The flesh-tearing pain of loss. The soul-ripping agony of grief. Jessie Buckley is a force of an actress. I am not a big cryer. I am easily moved but very hardly do I cry ever but there was a scene in the first act that made me cry involuntarily. It felt like Buckley was pulling tears out of me through the screen. Truly sorcery.  My main fear with Hamnet was that I’d disappointed myself because I was so hyped for it. But despite all the shining reviews and the stories of critics sobbing in theaters, the film surpassed all of my expectations. I was inconsolable by the last 20 minutes. Full on hyperventilating with tears streaming down my eyes, neck wet and everything. The cast is simply masterful at their craft. Every actor came onto that set with something to prove, especially Jacobi Jupe who I’m certain if I meet in real life I’d just start bawling. And the crew is just as equally as talented. It truly felt like Chloe Zhao had a vendetta against me because this was a personal attack. Congratulations Chloe you won. I have never cried this hard in my life over any movie. And to you Maggie O’Farrell, I hope you’re happy how you’ve now given me two headaches now from sobbing too hard. The score and costume design are sublime, they really immerse you into this world of poetry and plague and the mystifying forest. Honestly I could go on for 5 more paragraphs about how talented the people behind this film are. Hamnet is masterclass on stories about love and loss. It takes a simple premise and transforms it into a beautiful tapestry. Throughout its runtime, you connect, and grow, and live with Agnes and William and by the end you will feel their despair as if it was your own. That is not to say this film is nihilistic or pessimistic, it is about overcoming, about loving, about what “family” means. Until I get my socks knocked off again, this remains my favorite film of 2025.