Oscar winner Chloé Zhao returns to the big screen with 'Hamnet'. The film adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Maggie O'Farrell, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Zhao, tells the story of William Shakespeare's family.
From the perspective of his sensitive wife Agnes, we see how she falls in love with the great bard and how the two plan a life together. When their only son Hamnet dies of the plague at the age of eleven, their great love threatens to suffocate. In the midst of this terrible personal tragedy, Shakespeare begins to write 'Hamlet', one of the great dramas in literary history, in deep despair and grief. The eponymous novel by Maggie O'Farrell was published in 2020, received euphoric reviews and won the British 'Women's Prize for Fiction' and the American 'National Book Critics Circle Award'. 'Hamnet' was produced by Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris and Nicolas Gonda as well as the two legendary Oscar winners Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg. Director Zhao was able to recruit a fantastic ensemble for her film, which celebrated its world premiere in Telluride and won the prestigious Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025.
