Facing the Unknown in Hamnet

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Facing the Unknown in Hamnet

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By Ben Elliott

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The unknown hovers around the edges of Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. It appears as a cave, a stage entrance, a doorway, but it’s always there: a barrier between the world we know and the one we don’t.

Two friends chasing floating legs in a red room from House, 1977

Hamnet, 2025

How we face that uncertainty — whether we choose to embrace it or have it forced upon us — sits at the heart of this quietly devastating drama coming to The Triplex this week. Hamnet follows a young William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) as he connects with the free-spirited Agnes (Jessie Buckley). The couple plunge headfirst into a series of unknowns: love, marriage, parenthood, and the strain of Will leaving home to pursue a life in the theater.

A young woman holding a severed head in House, 1977

Hamnet, 2025

When tragedy grips their household, the question of how to move forward — how to forgive, how to remember, how to live with yourself after losing someone you love — fractures their bond. Grief leaves the Bard unable to find the words when he needs them the most.

Buckley crafts Agnes’ emotional spectrum with a dazzling expressiveness, while Mescal’s Shakespeare remains tightly coiled and restrained. It’s only as the film moves toward the premiere of Hamlet that we see how Will finally processes his grief — transforming his anger, despair, and love into the work that will reach people throughout the ages.

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