Take Two is a series from reporters (and movie buffs) Fritz Freudenberger and Isabelle Curtis to review entertainment options in the region. This month, our film is 2025’s “Hamnet,” based on the book by Maggie O'Farrell, directed by Chloe Zhao, and starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. It was recently nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and will be playing at the Harbor Theater until Jan. 29.  

Fritz: I have to admit. I originally didn't want to watch this movie. I'm not much for tragic tales, more so when they smell like Oscar bait. I was wrong. 

"Hamnet" is a slow burn. It gives us snippets of rural family life for a young Shakespeare and, more central to the story, his wife, Agnes. They fall in love, start a family and struggle with what I imagine are typical hurdles for a 16th-century household. It wasn't a story about Shakespeare, the playwright and literary giant. It was a story about a dysfunctional family with its tenderness, anger, joy, resentment and love on display.   

Through most of the film, I was antsy and impatient for the plot to pick up. I was waiting for the movie to finish, ready to give it a mediocre rating. Then came the final scene.

I don’t exactly know what happened, but I suddenly found myself in the dark, drowning in emotion. Sadness, joy, and an invigorating sense of beauty flooded me as the film came to a close. I could hear a soft chorus of sniffles in the audience as the credits rolled. Many of us had to take a silent moment to process what had happened.  

What I first mistook for drudging moments of minutia were, in reality, purposeful filmmaking. I didn't think much about it during most of the movie, but not once did I question the script, acting, or editing. It was all seamless. These building blocks of cinema were quietly laid down, brick by brick, to create a foundation of investment into the characters and their story. What felt like work, whether sitting through the quiet parts or suffering through tragic ones, was indeed work. The audience was asked to lend a hand. But our investment was paid back with interest, all the greater because of it. Whatever errors I earlier perceived were forgiven once the full vision became clear.

This was an emotionally difficult movie to watch, and I probably won't be putting myself through it again. However, if you want to feel something and enjoy a tragic tale, this one is for you.  

4.5/5 quills 

Is: This is a tough one. I’ve flipped back and forth on my ranking countless times, and I’m still not totally convinced of my conclusions, but let me try to explain.   

The film’s last 20 minutes are spectacular. Keeping it vague for spoiler’s sake, it deals with Agnes’ slow realization of the depth of her husband’s mourning, and how he has chosen to atone for, process and immortalize the loss of their son. I was crying, my mom was crying and so were my fellow theatergoers. When the lights lifted, no one was eager to leave their seats as we stewed in the weight of what we had just seen. Give Buckley her Oscar now!  

But this does not erase how bored I was for the rest of the runtime. Yet I can’t think of anything that could have been left out because our protagonists’ interpersonal lives are essential for the ending’s emotional thesis. Do you see my problem?   

When breaking down the film’s other attributes, I feel like I am adding tallies to a pro-con list. Pro: Not only do Buckley and Paul Mescal deliver class act performances, “Hamnet” has some of the best child acting I’ve ever seen.   

Con: The references and faux inspirations for Shakespeare’s works feel painfully shoehorned in. When the playwright spontaneously comes up with, and begins reciting, Hamlet’s famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy (aka his “Should I end my life or not?” speech), the moment was so forced, my eyes almost rolled out of my skull.  

Pro: The artistic vision of Chloe Zhao’s directing style is strong. There are no establishing shots, creating a sense of intimacy and an almost stage-like framing. We are placed in rooms, in enclaves of forest. This is a story about a family.  

I could do this all day. So, I’m giving it a smack dab middle rating!   

3/5 quills