The first trailer for Chloé Zhao’s Oscar contender Hamnet is released

Fans are getting a good glimpse at Chloé Zhao’s Oscar contender Hamnet, which stars Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in the lead as the film continues to stir conversations. From the very first frame, the trailer leans into pastoral, lived-in England, as the mossy landscapes and sunlit interiors frame Buckley's Agnes as the emotional center.

The trailer shows Agnes and her husband William, played by Paul Mescal, as they navigate their lives with their three children, Susannah, Judith and Hamnet. You can feel the atmosphere looming with the devastating loss that's about to come, foreshadowing Hamnet's death and what it does to the Shalespeare family.

According to Focus Features, the film's official synopsis reads,

"From Academy Award® winning writer/director Chloé Zhao, Hamnet tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet."

Ever since it's early previews, Hamnet has been widely acclaimed for Buckley and Mescal's portrayal of the Shakepeares and Zhao's direction that has turned a fictional story about the Bard into an intense and afflicting depiction of the tragedy the family faced. The trailer is already winning over fans and with Oscar buzz following, Hamnet may emerge as one of the year's biggest tearjerkers.

More details about Hamnet

Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet reimagines the heartache behind one of literature’s greatest tragedies. Co-written and co-edited by Zhao, the historical drama adapts Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed 2020 novel that fictionalizes the emotional life of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, after the loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet, a grief that would later echo give birth to Hamlet.

The film stars Jessie Buckley as Agnes and Paul Mescal as William. Joe Alwyn joins as Bartholomew Hathaway, while Emily Watson plays William’s mother, Mary Shakespeare. The ensemble also includes David Wilmot, Jacobi Jupe, Olivia Lynes, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, and Noah Jupe, who portrays Hamlet.

In an interview with British Vogue in January 2024, Mescal spoke about the film and said,

“That book—it’s just devastating. I can’t wait. If I told a younger version of myself that this would be [shooting] this year, I wouldn’t believe it. I’ve obviously been in a film with Jessie before [Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter], but we’ve never shared the screen or a working process together. I think she’s one of our present-day greats. And Chloé is somebody I can’t wait to get in the weeds with, and get into the heads of those characters.”

Premiering at the 52nd Telluride Film Festival in August 2025, Hamnet received early acclaim before sweeping the People’s Choice Award at TIFF’s 50th edition. It later screened at the Rome and Tokyo International Film Festivals, closing the latter’s 38th edition.