Hamnet

Whatever is given can be taken away. The space in the mind, the void in nature calls to death and works itself into every part of life. This was a constant experience of complete turmoil and aguish, and I'm overwhelmed. I'm going to be brave, I'll trick it and death will take me. The twins swapped clothes and lives. Hamnet's sword is poisoned against himself. Jessie Buckely leads one of the best performances I've seen in cinema, this is bewitching, natural theatre at it's most cruel and affecting. From the first kiss, first glimpse of the hawk, their relationship ties the spirit and body into one. Whistle a wish and see in the sky what most can't. Every part of this was beatiful: the period piece familial drama, empty and trodden through set pieces and screams in the forest. A visceral, moving love story. A real life tragedy. The birth of theatre as escape. Hamlet dies on stage and her wife sees William behind the curtian, existing behind the curtains of death, looking into life for understanding. The look they share is perfect understanding without words. Classic, classic, classic, I am shaken by this. Engaging and life defining. Visions of the future, life, death and nature hook you into the abondoned reality of grief, where theatre is born. You are left in dark, candlelit rooms of death. The hands on stage reaching to Hamlet, then she understood then why he ran to the stage - that theatre was the catharsis of his soul, that everyone can share. William Shakespeare relatable. This was larger than life and the stage. Incredible, vulnrable acting and emotional framing make a one of a kind love story and window into shakespeare's most important work, his family.