Hamnet review
By Joel Humphries · Watched 11.16.25
★★★★ 4 / 5
Spoiler-free review
Hamnet spent much of its running time hovering around three stars for me, with stately pacing that frequently became a slog. Then the final fifteen minutes reorganized everything that came before. Chloé Zhao’s decision to cast Noah Jupe as Hamlet after his brother’s role as Hamnet creates an emotional and theatrical connection that pays off with extraordinary force, and Jupe earns every cent of his salary. The ending does not merely improve the film; it reveals what the slow accumulation was building toward. If that final movement cannot reach you, I am not sure the movie—or perhaps any movie—can.
Full review — contains spoilers
I was sitting on a 3-3.5 star review of this until the last 15 minutes. The pacing made this a bit of a slog in parts. That being said, it really came together at the end, and Noah Jupe earned his damned money. Getting Noah to play Hamlet after his brother's turn as Hamnet was genius by Chloé Zhao. It all just worked. If you aren't moved by the end, you can't be moved.