Get your tissues ready. The first trailer for Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao's latest film has arrived, and it's 90 seconds of raw emotion.
Based on the best-selling novel by Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet is a fictionalized account of William and Agnes Shakespeare and the loss of their son (the titular Hamnet). Bound to be a challenging watch for anyone who's experienced the death of a child, the film is nonetheless one of the front-runners for major awards this season. It's also a return to the smaller-scale dramas that Zhao made her name on before tackling one of the MCU's most befuddling projects (Eternals).
The film stars Oscar nominees Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, with Joe Alwyn and Emily Watson in supporting roles. There's an all-star team behind the scenes, too. Zhao once again serves as her own editor, with Lukasz Zal (The Zone of Interest) handling the cinematography and Max Richter (Ad Astra) composing the score. Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes serve as producers.
After hitting the Telluride and Toronto film festivals, Hamnet will open in select theaters on Thanksgiving Day before expanding on December 12.
Check out the trailer below.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
