Hamnet

I feel akin to Will; though usually apt and extravagant with my words, in this moment, suddenly speechless and stuttering as I take in this splendid beauty that exists before me. I know I've said this a lot this year—and that attests to what a great place movies are in right now—but 2025's Hamnet is definitely my favourite film of the whole year. I'm so glad I decided to experience this film in a theatre, where the screams and cries of Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal pattered against my eardrums, the vivid beauty of everything and anything Łukasz Żal captured in his lens delved into my eyes, and Max Richter's tear-jerking and utterly beautiful scores reverberated inside my head. I couldn't've wished for a better way to experience a film as mind-numbingly poignant as this. First off, I'm just at a loss for words at Jessie Buckley's performance in this film. My god, I mean I'd heard she was in the running for Best Actress this year, but having finally seen her take control of every single scene she leads in this film, I'm shocked someone could describe her performance as "in the running". It isn't "in the running", it's award-winning. I know I haven't seen a lot of lead actress performances this year, but I refuse to believe anyone can give a better performance than she has in this film. It absolutely destroyed me how well articulated and passionate it was, putting shame to so many other performances I've seen in recent weeks. I just really hope she wins Best Actress... because if she doesn't... the Oscars are in big trouble. Next up, we have Paul Mescal. Now, I know in my review for 2025's *One Battle After Another, I praised Sean Penn and said he should win Best Supporting Actor this year, but after Hamnet*... my opinion has changed. No doubt Penn gave a fantastic performance, but Mescal's Shakespeare connected with me on a human level so much more than Penn. Obviously, they're very different characters, and I understand that, but Mescal just brought such a beautiful variety of genres to his performance, and delivered one of the most achingly beautiful and real performances I've seen all year. There's so much pain, love, and overall tragedy in his every line, every smile, and every tear that it's impossible for one's heart not to be aroused by this deep sentiment. Obviously, these were the obvious picks, but I especially want to give credit to Jacobi Jupe, who plays the titular character, Hamnet. He's only twelve, and yet he delivers one of the great child performances I've ever seen. For a kid who's supposed to be having fun and not understandings such complexities of life, Jupe delivered a subtly complex performance, layers of feelings of sorrow and acceptance visible on his face. Just phenomenal. Secondly, there's the cinematography. Holy fucking shit. I'd seen some shots from this film before and was wowed by it instantly, but watching this whole film on a giant theatre screen made me appreciate it so much more for what it is. Not only does Żal picture scenery and people in a tender, vibrant, and yet also somber way, but also he makes his scenes so simple in their composition that each frame feels like a perfect work of art. He doesn't need to crowd the shot to make it interesting. It's fine if all you see is Agnes curled up in a red dress in the roots of a tree; it's fine if all you see is Will on a horse, approaching a house. You know exactly what you need to know and more without needing several elements cluttering the frame. It's genuinely one of my favourite aspects of this film because it makes it seem like anyone could film this, and yet I'm still so impressed by it because I know it only seems that way, and that there are layers on top of layers, some of which I haven't even noticed this time around, but maybe I will on a re-watch. Thirdly, there's the truly heavenly score composed by Max Richter. When it comes to musical scores, as someone who only occasionally dabbles in music composition, I find myself quite speechless. I don't really know how to describe it other than how it makes me feel, and so I think I'll do that. This score elevates you; it makes you feel like you're floating and delving into the world of the film by not only offering some of the most touching music I've heard, but keying it at exactly the perfect moment, allowing Paul Mescal or Jessie Buckley's dialogue delivery to be enhanced (not that it needs any enhancing) to a level that brings out so many hidden emotions in their verbal performance. Finally, I think what really made me appreciate this film so much is because of its humanity. Right after I stepped out onto the busy uptown street with my friend and we began to discuss the film and how much we'd loved it, it instantly hit me why this film moved me so much. Sure, a huge chunk of the reason is because the actors made me cry, but then I realized it's because this film is probably one of the most human films I've ever seen. Now, I don't mean to sound pretentious, but seeing a story such as this take place in a world that's filled with only humans and not a wink of modern technology is such a different feeling than watching something like 2009's *Avatar, or even 2024's Dune: Part Two* for that matter (even though it remains one of my favourite films of all time). It reminded me that no matter what, AI could never come up with something like this. It can't even fathom it... because it doesn't understand what it means to be human. It's millions of servers can't ever comprehend the truth about humanity and it never will. It can't make you cry like Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley did; it can't amaze you like the very real and beautiful scenery of the film did, and it can't invoke the heavenly, poignant feeling that the score did for us all. It's incapable of understanding even the simplest and oldest of tales. AI can't make you weep; it can't amaze you with reality; and it can't invoke true divine feeling because it isn't human, and as long as it isn't human, it can't ever do what another human being can. It can never make a film like Chloé Zhao's Hamnet. To be or not to be?... That is the question. Nominated at the 98th Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Casting, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Adapted Screenplay. 2025 Oscars 2026: Best Picture Nominees Ranked IB Level: 7+ 5/5 **18 December 2025 chymp**