Hamnet

Friday, January 30 until Thursday, February 5, 2026Yukon Theatre

Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal deliver career-defining performances in Oscar winner Chloé Zhao's period drama that won the 2025 TIFF People's Choice Award.

A powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, "Hamlet".

"Academy Award–winning director Chloé Zhao (Nomadland, TIFF ’20 People’s Choice Award) helms this lush and tender drama about William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his family, as seen through the eyes of his thoughtful wife Agnes (a luminous Jessie Buckley).

In William Shakespeare’s day, the names Hamlet and Hamnet were interchangeable. The newest film by Chloé Zhao, director of TIFF ’20 People’s Choice Award winner Nomadland, also an Oscar winner, uses that context as the basis for a tender exploration of Shakespeare’s domestic life, connecting a family tragedy to one of his most famous works. Maybe we can better understand Hamlet, Zhao suggests, if we consider that it was developed while the most famous writer in the Western canon was mourning the death of his 11-year-old son, Hamnet.

Based on the novel by Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet’s main character isn’t The Bard — played here by an impressive Paul Mescal — or even the child who gives the film its name. Hamnet belongs to Agnes, Shakespeare’s thoughtful wife, played by an enthralling Jessie Buckley, who bathes the film in her warmth." - TIFF

Recommended for ages 12+ for mature subject matter.

Content advisory: child death, depiction of near stillbirth