Chloé Zhao was the toast of the 2020-2021 very long, deep-COVID-era Oscar season with the sweeping dominance of “Nomadland” at every ceremony up through the Oscars. The “Songs My Brother Taught Me” and “The Rider” director — known for her vérité-like, immersive portraits of marginalized groups, told in their own environments — then pivoted to tentpole franchise filmmaker with the release of Marvel’s “Eternals.” The film received mixed reviews, and was still up against a depressed COVID box-office rebound anyway, but still carried her signature naturalistic stamp where possible.
Enter her next feature film “Hamnet,” a period historical drama starring Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare himself. Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the film puts a fictional, what-might-have-been spin on their devastating romance and the grief they faced over the death of their 11-year-old son. Working with cinematographer Łukasz Żal (“The Zone of Interest”) and composer Max Richter (“The Leftovers”), Zhao also has the sort of powerful producers on board that come with a venerated record of their own: Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg.
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But after the project was initially brought to Zhao, development continued (even without mentioning “Hamnet” itself) at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival, where both Buckley, for Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking,” and Mescal, for “Aftersun,” were roaming the Colorado mountain town. Zhao found actors she wanted to work with, and then took a crack at opening O’Farrell’s book. (Vanity Fair has the first scoop on the film’s production.)
“Hamnet,” which shot in Wales last year with period favorites Joe Alwyn and Emily Watson also in the cast, is said to be a major tearjerker by audiences who’ve seen it. Since the Toronto Film Festival has billed the film as a Canadian premiere, and it’s not playing Venice, we know it’ll be at Telluride this weekend. Buckley meanwhile features in another fall festival premiere: Charlie Kaufman’s short “How to Shoot a Ghost” at Venice, her second film with the Oscar winner after “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
After its festival run, “Hamnet” opens in select theaters November 27 before debuting nationwide December 12 from Focus Features, timed for awards season. More on the film in IndieWire’s fall festival preview here.
Watch the first teaser below.
