First Trailer for Hamnet Gives Shakespeare a Cinematic Love Story of His Own

In addition to being the author behind some of the best known stories in the world, William Shakespeare was also a real person with a life and people who loved him. Many biographical stories about the bard have taken a comedic approach—for example, the musical Something Rotten! or that one episode of Doctor Who. But based on the first trailer, Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao and based on the novel by Maggie O’ Farrell, seems to be as dramatic and serious as it gets.

Hamnet will follow the love story between William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley), as they grieve the death of their son, who the film is named after. This version of Shakespeare seems to be more of a suitable romantic hero than past iterations, less of an arrogant wordsmith and more of a sensitive man who feels things very deeply. The trailer begins with Shakespeare and Agnes exchanging some loving words, followed by some mentions of “a deep dark black void.” This void appears literally in the backdrop of one of Shakespeare’s plays, a doorway into blackness in the middle of a painted forest. Shakespeare’s love story begins in a sweet way, but there are dark things ahead.

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Whether Hamnet turns out to be something more than a standard period romance and capture some of the thornier, more complicated aspects of Shakespeare’s work remains to be seen. The loss of Shakespeare’s son is said to have inspired Hamlet, which is one of the formative texts on complicated relationships between fathers and sons—but the trailer for Hamnet seems to be focused first and foremost on love between Shakespeare at the Agnes instead. At the very least the casting of the two lead performers, especially Buckley, who was so compelling in 2023’s Wicked Little Letters, is a good sign.

Hamnet will have a limited theatrical release on Nov. 27, 2025 and a wide release on Dec. 12, 2025. Check out the first trailer below.