The Movie 'Hamnet' Is Not Called 'Hamlet' for a Very Good Reason

Hamnet, the Chloé Zhao film starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, didn't come home empty-handed from the Golden Globes. The movie had six nominations and won the Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama and the Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama (Jessie Buckley).

It's fair to say the critics loved the film. It even has a "certified fresh" 86 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and a whopping 93 percent audience score on the same site. However, if you haven't seen the movie, you might be wondering why it is called Hamnet and not Hamlet, like the Shakespeare play. Fear not; we have the answers.

The movie Hamnet is not the Hamlet story we all remember the "To be, or not to be" soliloquy from. Hamnet is not based directly on the Hamlet play, but instead on Shakespeare's family life. Paul Mescal stars as Shakespeare himself, and Jessie Buckley plays his wife, Agnes. They had a son named Hamnet, who died from the plague.

The film is about their family dynamic and the grief they go through after Hamnet's death. According to The Atlantic, many people believe that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet after the death of his son as a way to memorialize him and work through his own grief.

The names "Hamnet" and "Hamlet" were interchangeable in Elizabethan England, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

There is not concrete proof that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet about his late son, since he didn't confirm it himself, but the timeline of events does support the theory.

The Atlantic notes that Hamnet and his twin sister were baptized in 1585. Parish records state that "Hamnet filius William Shakspere" was buried on Aug. 11, 1596. The play Hamlet was staged around 1600, and the story was published in print by 1604.

Hamnet's logline is as follows, per IMDb: "After losing their son Hamnet to plague, Agnes and William Shakespeare grapple with grief in 16th-century England. A healer, Agnes must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss."

Critics and fans alike have praised the film Hamnet for its stunning visuals, authentic and heartbreaking acting, and the deeply emotional story. However, some warn that viewers should be ready for a slow-paced film that focuses on grief and loss.

The film not only has two Golden Globes but also the People's Choice Award from the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.

In a conversation with Chloé Zhao about her film, Seth Rogen said, "I was astounded as someone who makes movies … Your entire third act is unbelievable and incredibly bold and not something I’ve ever seen in a movie before, but something that was incredibly profound."

Christy Lemire from RogerEbert.com disagrees, however, saying that while there are individual moments in the film that "are gripping in their tension," other moments are "obvious and groan-worthy," especially after Hamnet's death.

She wrote, "There’s nothing subtle about Buckley and Mescal’s performances in the way they portray this bottomless ache: It’s big and shrieky and shrill, and Zhao lingers in their pain in a way that feels uncomfortably voyeuristic."

Thankfully for Buckley and Mescal, the Golden Globes disagree.