To enjoy or not to enjoy — that is the question around “Hamnet.” Buzz around “Hamnet” has made rounds since November 2025. It is a highly decorated movie with 302 award nominations and 96 wins, eight of those being Oscars. The film is directed by Chloé Zhao and features Academy Award nominees Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. Given the accolades and press surrounding the film, my expectations were high. However, after watching the film, despite some highlights in the movie, I was disappointed. “Hamnet” is not the emotional drama it is made out to be.

“Hamnet” is a tragedy surrounding the death of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamnet. The movie begins by recounting Shakespeare and his wife Agnes’ relationship. Shakespeare is a tutor for Agnes’ younger brothers. When Shakespeare and Agnes meet, they are immediately captivated by each other. Months into their relationship, Agnes gets pregnant and Shakespeare marries her. We see them build their family over the years; they have an older daughter, Susanna; and a pair of twins, Hamnet and Judith.

While Agnes takes care of their children, Shakespeare goes to London for long periods of time to work as a playwright. During the time he is away, Judith falls terminally ill with the bubonic plague. One night, Hamnet recalls his father telling him to be brave, then “tricks” death to save his sister. After this supernatural encounter, Judith no longer has the plague and Hamnet becomes ill in her place. His sickness is more severe and he eventually dies. Shakespeare comes home and discovers his son has passed. Hamnet’s death causes a rift between Agnes and Shakespeare. Both parents fall into a bitter depression.

Later, Agnes finally comes to see Shakespeare’s new play, “Hamlet,” named after their son. She is unfamiliar with theater because of distance and years of disconnect between Shakespeare’s work life and home life. When she sees the play, she realizes her husband’s grief, and through that they can reconnect through their joint catharsis.

The film is based off of the 2020 book “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell, who also co-wrote the screenplay. The story is inspired by the scant historical records of Shakespeare’s family. For me, the film fell flat emotionally due to the lack of development of character relationships. After the birth of their first child, Shakespeare is overwrought by his lack of direction in life. He becomes easily agitated with Agnes because of his low self-esteem. He leaves home for London while Agnes is pregnant, and when we see the kids get older, he only has a couple of interactions with them. He is portrayed as an absent father, so later in the film it was hard to sympathize with his grief of a child the audience knew that he was not close with.

None of the kids’ characters are fleshed out either, so when the film has dramatic performances, it feels histrionic. The film tries too hard to create emotionally impactful scenes without doing any of the work to evoke those emotions, so it just appears hollow. An example of this is when Judith is dying from the bubonic plague. She solemnly accepts her death, which is odd for an 11 year old girl, and Judith’s character is not developed enough to make this acceptance feel normal, so instead of serious and heartfelt it feels unrealistic.

Because of the buzz around the actors’ performances, I expected to feel sentimental during the movie, but the lack of characterization makes the performances feel melodramatic. If the movie was paced better, then the characters the movie’s theme surrounds would be more developed, and the great acting performances would actually be impactful.

Despite my complaints with the storytelling, the movie’s cinematography blew me away. The shots make the audience feel like they were actually in the film. Angles gave the perspective of a surveillant, as though you are in the room watching a private moment, but you are not supposed to be there. These types of angles worked great to make the audience feel the intensity of the moment. An example of this is during the moment Hamnet trades fates with his sick sister. The perspective is shot from the upper corner of the room, the same place a security camera would be, and Hamnet yells at death, or the audience, to go away. This shot is immersive and eerie for the audience. Shots like it were what kept me engaged when the story felt dry.

Overall, I feel this movie had the potential to be great, but ended up feeling hollow and boring. I would recommend it to someone who is interested in Shakespeare’s life or period pieces set in 16th century England. Aesthetically, the movie was pleasing to watch, though generally, I would not recommend “Hamnet” due to its lack of impactful character building, storytelling and sentiment.