Hamnet | Shakespeare-Inspired Novel Is Set for Film Debut
- Melchior Antoine
- Aug 26
- 2 min read
Hamnet, the popular novel authored by Maggie O’Farrell and which was inspired by the life of Shakespeare, is set to be turned into a film by Chloé Zhao. The movie, which is also named Hamnet is named after Shakespeare’s most famous play — Hamlet.
Hamnet is a variation of Hamlet, the eponymous hero of the play. It has been speculated that Shakespeare named the play after his son, Hamnet, who died rather young at age 11. The film is set to have a staged rollout. First, it will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this fall (2025). Then, it will start playing in US cinemas in November, which will be followed by a wider rollout in December.
Although the novel and film are named after Shakespeare’s son Hamnet, the character perspective and heart of the story belong to the famous Bard’s wife — Agnes. The novel depicts her navigating loss and grief in the wake of her son’s death from the plague. In the novel, she is portrayed as a natural healer with a mysterious connection with nature and the forest.
In the movie, she is played by Jessie Buckley. Paul Mescal will be playing William Shakespeare. Other members of the cast include Joe Alwy, Emily Watson, Jacobi Jupe (the child actor who will play Hamnet), Jack Shalloo, and David Wilmot.
The screenplay was co-written by O'Farrell, the author of the novel, and Zhao. Details on the life of Shakespeare are sparse; as a result, both the novel and film take an approach rooted in “emotional truth” as opposed to historical fact. A peculiar aspect of the novel is the fact that Shakespeare is never mentioned by name. This provided the author with the opportunity to focus on the main character Agnes, without being distracted by all the historical baggage and associations with a name as famous as Shakespeare’s.
This is not the first adaptation of the 2021 novel. It was adapted for a stage performance by Lolita Chakrabarti, with Agnes being played by Madeleine Mantock and the Bard being played by Tom Varey. The novel has enjoyed immense popularity since its publication.
On Goodreads, it has an overall rating of 4.1 out of five stars, 314,711 ratings, and 38,547 reviews. On Amazon, it has 4.4 out of five stars with an overall of 314,515 ratings and 62,212 reviews. If reception of the novel is anything to go by, we should expect the film to see at least moderate success.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2025, August 26). Hamnet | Shakespeare-Inspired Novel Is Set for Film Debut. EminentEdit. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/hamnet-film-debut |
