Hamnet by Chloe Zhao steals the show at the Mill Valley Film Festival; wins "Overall Audience Favorite" Award

Hamnet had its world premiere at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival. The film is an adaptation of the namesake 2020 novel by Maggie O'Farrell. It is directed by Chloé Zhao, who also co-wrote the screenplay with O'Farrell. The film will be released in the US and UK on November 27, 2025, and January 9, 2026, respectively. Here's the official synopsis as per Letterboxd:

The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.

Let's learn more about the details.

Hamnet wins big at the Mill Valley Film Festival

Hamnet has received the Award for Overall Audience Favorite at the recent Mill Valley Film Festival in California. In July this year, the film received the People's Choice Award at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. Additionally, the historical drama was screened at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival and the 20th Rome Film Festival.

The film was shot by Łukasz Żal, with Chloé Zhao and Affonso Gonçalves serving as editors. Max Richter composed the music. In an interview with THR, Zhao discussed why she chose this story for her next project. She said:

“I never really understood [Hamlet]. The story is very dark. It’s very dense. It talks a lot about the very difficult human experiences this young person went through in a short amount of time, and then he dies in the end. … I never really understood it the way I did when I read Maggie’s novel. When I read the novel, I thought, ‘Oh, wow.’ I just looked at Hamnet completely different.”

Zhao revealed that she had nearly rejected the project until she met Paul Mescal.

"I felt like if he plays young Shakespeare, maybe [this is] something I could do. The chemistry test was … sparks everywhere."

She added,

"Hamnet, I can never quite pinpoint why I choose stories. I think they choose me. This decompressing period changed the ecosystem a lot of what’s going on. I think the project chose me because I was ready to be the fertile ground for it."

The film is produced by Liza Marshall, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Nicholas Gonda, and Liza Marshall under their banners of Hera Pictures, Neal Street Productions, Amblin Entertainment, and Book of Shadows.

Focus Features will release Hamnet in the United States, while Universal Pictures will handle its international distribution.