Hamnet Review

 

The film tells the story of the relationship between Anne Hathaway (changed to Agnes Hathaway) and William Shakespeare and how the tragic death of their son impacted their marriage and inspired Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

I really enjoyed the look of this movie; there are a lot of shots of nature and old-fashioned homes that are both very calming and well symmetrical. That, combined with the costumes and insects, makes the movie quite effective at making you feel like you’ve been transported to that time period. Especially with London and the Globe Theatre, it definitely felt like the camera crew had gone back in time with those scenes.

However, the biggest standout of the film is the performances.

Everyone is talking about Jessie Buckley's performance as Agnes and how incredible it is, and after seeing it, I tend to agree. Throughout most of the story, Buckley brings a gentle warmth and independence to the character, which comes across as sweet and charming. But once the character starts getting the grief, Buckley brings an incredibly raw vulnerability and powerful emotion that is very captivating to watch. Because I’ve been hearing nothing about this movie but “Man, Buckley is going to get the Oscar; there’s no way Buckley isn’t going to get the Oscar; other women don’t need to show up because Buckley is totally getting the Oscar,” so when I’m watching the movie, I’m like, “OK, she’s good, but I don’t know if it’s worth all that praise…” and then we get to a few scenes where I’m like, “Ohhhh, that’s what you were talking about… Yeah, she has a very likely chance of winning,” lol.

That being said, I think Paul Mescal gives an equally powerful performance as Billy Shakes lol. He brings a rogue, rugged charm and brings a raw sensitivity to his performance as a “struggling artist.” But like Buckley, he does a lot of powerful inner turmoil acting that is very emotional and very effective at making people feel empathy.

One of the biggest surprises was the kid who played Hamnet. For a literal 12-year-old, Jacobi Jupe is able to portray a lot of complex and nuanced emotions in his performance and has an incredible amount of talent for someone so young… It kind of pisses you off lol; you’re like, “You’re this good and talented at 12? Man, some people get all the luck,” lol.

Zhaogoes for a natural, almost simplistic directing style, which helps ground the film and helps you connect with the characters. But she also includes a few reoccurring visuals that help fit the themes of loss, solitude, and depression, but also peacefulness, togetherness, and renewal, all in a subtle and effective way.

Emily Watson’s character of Shakespeare’s mom, Mary, I found very interesting; your thoughts and feelings for the character definitely change and evolve throughout the story, and Watson is one of those actresses who is great in pretty much everything, and this is no exception.

There was a cool shadow puppet scene in the movie that was used for foreshadowing. It’s not a big part of the movie, but I just thought it looked cool.

I was surprised with how they dealt with the impending tension of the plot. Like, if you know the basic premise of the movie, you know what’s going to happen to certain characters, but how the film presents the story and the characters’ motivations and emotions go in some interesting directions that make you question exactly what’s going to happen and add a lot of nuanced motivation and nuance to the story. I doubt this is very historically accurate as far as what actually happened, but it does fit emotionally and is very effective in drawing you into the film and the character’s emotional state.

So as you can probably assume, this is not the happiest of stories. There’s a lot of heavy emotion and themes going on, so if you’re in a bad mood or feeling down, this might not be the movie for you, just as a heads up. However, once you get past that and are feeling up to it, Hamnet is a very powerful movie while also being very quiet and introspective, letting the actors give very captivating and top-tier performances that are easy to relate to and enjoy. And well, the film definitely has. It’s a downer moment, but there’s enough heart and hope throughout that you won’t leave the movie feeling too bad. I actually really enjoyed the final shot of the film; it’s one of my favorite parts in the movie.

I give Hamnet four stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. I’m sure I’ll be hearing about this movie a lot at the Oscars lol.

The Running Man (2025) Review

 

In a dystopian future, family man Ben Richards signed up for the reality show “The Running Man” in order to make enough money to support his family but must survive 30 days on the run without being killed, and all of America is looking for him.

Glenn Powell is very likable as Ben; he brings a funny charisma to the part but also a serious devotion when it comes to his family and motives for being in the games.

Josh Brolin plays the main TV executive villain, and while he’s not in the movie a whole lot, he brings a subtle, underhanded menace to the character, even when he’s acting friendly.

Coleman Domingo plays the host of The Running Man, and he steals every scene he’s in with

While he’s running, Ben meets a lot of characters along the way, and while I do like the characters and the actors playing them, none of them get a whole lot of screen time, so it kind of feels like you’re going from one character to the next, never getting a whole lot of time to connect with them until you’re on with the next.

Michael Cera is the standout for me; his character is both so serious and naturally silly that it brings a fun humor to the film.

I wish the film had played up more of the parodying of reality TV; they sort of do some at the beginning with game shows and things like Squid Game, but I wish they had gone into it more and done some more sharp satire. Instead, they do more of a traditional Kardashians-type parody, which is well done, but I think sticking with game shows would’ve made the satire more biting. And in line with the running man storytelling

I enjoyed William H. Macy, Katy O’Brien, and Lee Pace in the film; they took advantage of what screen time they had.

For fans of the book, from what I can tell, this is a very faithful adaptation, with a few changes here and there, but as far as book-to-screen adaptations go, it is pretty faithful.

Edgar Wright did a solid job directing; it’s not as hyper-crazy as some of his other films, but it had its moments and was overall very solidly crafted.

I like actress Amelia Jones, and it was nice to see her pop in with this, but her character felt a bit underwritten and could use a little bit more development for the choices she makes and really just kind of felt there for some overhanded social commentary.

It was a small Arnold Schwarzenegger cameo that I appreciated and that was cute; I always appreciate Arnold references.

The trailer advertises a lot of the action in this movie, and while there is a good amount, I don’t think it’s as “action packed” as people realize, but what you actually have is fun.

People might be a little split on the ending; it was OK, but it did feel truncated at the very end.

I’ve heard a lot of people say they were disappointed in this movie, and I feel like I enjoyed it more than most people. How do you understand and agree with some of the criticism? But I guess I walked in just wanting a good time and left with a good time, so it all worked out. I’ll give it a low four-star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; the fun and charm really pushed this one over.