Hamnet

Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, telling the heartbreaking story of the death of Hamnet, the eleven-year old son of Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway. Played by Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun) and Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter), this is a shattering tale of loss and creative reinvention, as well as the power of love to heal.

Adored by audiences at all autumn festivals and winner of the Toronto Audience Award (long-seen as an indicator of future Oscar Best Picture Winners), Hamnet is a tear-jerker, but one that earns its emotional heft. Evocative and poetic, it is not the tale of a great man, but of a couple’s love, how it is swallowed by grief and how they climbed out of it.