At the beginning of Hamnet, an opening graphic informs us that the names Hamnet and Hamlet were considered identical during the era of playwright William Shakespeare. In the graceful, empathetic, and compassionate hands of director Chloé Zhao, such a melding is not just a quirk of Old English vernacular. It’s also the otherworldly connection, borne of great tragedy, between Shakespeare’s only son and the timeless play that the young boy’s death inspired.

See Full Page