Agnes (Jessie Buckley), an expert falconer, and Will (Paul Mescal), a Latin tutor who longs to be a writer, quickly fall in love, marry and have three children, the happiness of their rustic Stratford-Upon-Avon home only interrupted by Will’s occasional journeys to London to workshop his plays.
But when their only son, 11-year-old Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe), succumbs to the plague, Agnes and Will face the first severe challenge to their relationship, their grief turning to animosity between them. Chloe Zhao’s (‘Nomadland’) adaptation of the Maggie O’Farrell novel charts the romance between Shakespeare and his wife as the couple experience wedded bliss and then tragedy, inspiring the birth of the Bard’s heralded ‘Hamlet’.
Where other films reduce the act of creation to a simplistic cause-and-effect scenario, ‘Hamnet’ far more profoundly investigates how love and art shift in intensity and clarity over time. So much of the movie is meticulously composed, colourful and detailed, that it almost feels like a romantic fairytale. What ‘Hamnet’ leaves you with isn’t sadness, but joy – at the human capacity to reckon with death’s implacability through art, or love, or just the basic act of carrying-on in its defiance. One of the must-sees of the season.
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PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MON 2 FEB 10:30AM SCREENING IS FOR PARENTS AND BABIES ONLY
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* The Fri 23 Jan 18:00 screening will include a short intro by Laurie Borg – Executive Producer of ‘Hamnet’.
Laurie Borg (Executive Producer on 'Hamnet') is in his fourth decade of being involved in the wonderful world of the Film & TV Industry.
"My wife and I moved to the village of Felpham, West Sussex in 2005 and in 2018 I received an Honorary Doctor of the Arts from Chichester University - for which i am immensely proud of!" - Laurie Borg.
Highlights include:
1996 - Producer on Ang Lee's, 'Sense and Sensibility' which won Emma Thompson best screenplay Oscar.
2010 - BAFTA winner for best TV Drama ‘Occupation’ with Stephen Graham and James Nesbitt.
2014 - RTS Television Award for Best Single Drama ‘The Challenger’ with William Hurt and directed by James Hawes.
2017 - Emmy Winner for Outstanding TV Movie the 'Black Mirror' episode ‘San Junipero’ with Mackenzie Davies and GuGu Mbatha-Raw.
Produced a number of HETV shows including, 'His Dark Materials', 'Peaky Blinders', 'Industry and Foundation'.
In 2024 I Executive Produced ‘Hamnet’ with Chloe Zhao directing.
Currently Producing ‘WAR’ for SKY/HBO for release in 2026.
