Hamnet: In the Name of the Son, directed by Chloé Zhao, is a powerful and intimate exploration of loss, love, and artistic inspiration, told through the eyes of Agnes (Jessie Buckley), wife of William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal).
Set in 16th-century rural England, the film immerses us in the daily life of the couple, who raise three children, Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and twins Judith and Hamnet (Olivia Lynes and Jacobi Jupe), precariously balancing family affections and the outside world. When the young Hamnet's untimely death strikes the family, grief pushes Agnes to confront her loss. It is through her sensitive and penetrating gaze that we witness the fracture that opens up in the family, and the attempt to piece together the fragments of a shattered life.
This is not the story of Shakespeare as an isolated genius, but as a man marked by a private loss, which will ultimately be reflected in his most famous work.