Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet surprised—delighted, actually—me at its final act.

At the start of the movie, I thought that it would be an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s longest play, Hamlet. Although it’s been ages since we studied the tragedy, I was quite certain during the first thirty minutes that what’s unfolding on the screen isn’t like the events on Hamlet.

Charge it to my naiveté. Since I make it a point to come into any movie without reading much about it so as not to come in with expectations, I mistakenly thought that Hamnet was adapted from the play itself. It turns out, it’s a reimagination of the novel Hamnet, which talks about how the Shakesperean play came about.

The good thing is, as I continued to watch—wondering at which point a reference to the play appears—I became enthralled by the beautiful love story unfolding right before my eyes.

The movie opens to show a forest, where a woman is nestled between the roots of a huge tree. She gets up and beckons to a bird (I think it was an eagle). She looks at home in her surroundings. As she heads back home, she attracts the attention of a man—a tutor looking out the window.

Unable to resist the urge, he leaves his students and goes out of the house to approach her.

The young man—whose name I believe was not mentioned until the last few minutes of the film—is William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and the woman is Agnes (Jessie Buckley) who soon becomes his wife. They become pregnant and Agnes gives birth to a girl.

Despite his love for family, William feels adrift. Coupled with his father issues, he becomes susceptible to terrible fits of anger. Agnes realizes her husband needs to go away to pursue his creative outlet so she asks her brother to take William to London where he gets involved in theater.

Years later, Agnes unexpectedly gives birth to fraternal twins. As someone who has an ability to know what the future holds, Agnes is concerned about her new babies since she believes in her future, two offsprings would be standing on her deathbed.

For a while, life was bliss. Until Judith falls ill. Agnes does everything she can, putting to use her knowledge of medicinal herbs to cure her daughter. Unfortunately, Judith falls sicker by the minute. One night, Hamnet lies down next to his twin, vowing to save her. For the second time in her life, Judith miraculously gets well. But Hamnet dies.

The grief was too much for Agnes. The future she saw has come to pass. William, devastated as he was for losing his only son, leaves again for London, which Agnes did not like.

Years later, Agnes receives word about a play her husband has written called Hamlet. Realizing that it must be related to their dead son, she is met with such anger that she had to see it for herself. When she sees the character Hamlet, she feels something inside her change. Suddenly, it felt like the grief and anger she carries are resolved especially when she locks eyes with her equally grieving husband.

Zhao’s pacing feels unhurried but not sluggish. It’s just right.

It lets us sit with the emotions. We’re not just witnesses to their bliss or anguish; we’re part of it somehow. Maybe it because the shots make them right in our faces. Or it could be due to the beautiful score that amplifies a scene’s emotional vibe.

Or maybe it’s because Buckley and Mescal delivered outstanding performances you feel the pain while watching them. Their soul-shattering depiction of a family dealing with tragedy makes it clear to the audience what grief does.

Even the children, the twins (Jacobi Jupe and Olivia Lynes) in particular, delivered impressive performances.  

As painful and gut-wrenching as it is, Hamnet is a delight to watch.

Hamnet opens exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas on February 18.

_{Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures}