With early award season buzz and rave reviews all swirling around, "Hamnet," the period piece about William Shakespeare's more formative years, had its Los Angeles premiere Tuesday (November 18).
The event was held at The Academy Museum and featured the star-studded cast.
Directed by Academy Award-winning "Nomadland" filmmaker Chloe Zhao, the drama offers a fictional account of the relationship of William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes and the death of their 11-year-old son Hamnet in 1596.
Set in Stratford-upon-Avon and London, it sees the young Shakespeare teaching Latin to pay off his father's debts and falling in love with the free-spirited Agnes, described by locals as the daughter of a forest witch.
"It [the storyline] comes from a huge amount of love, and I think to love anything you have to risk losing it," said Jessie Buckley, who plays Agnes.
With a focus on their family life, the emotion-filled film follows the highs and lows of their love story as well as the grief over the loss of their son, which leads Shakespeare to write "Hamlet".
It was the idea of the human side of Shakespeare that attracted director, Chloe Zhao, she said in an interview.
"Our version, he's pretty gritty and down-to-earth, sort of part animal. You know, I'm interested in the animal side of Shakespeare, because look at the plays he writes. There's something very primal about him."
The film is adapted from Maggie O'Farrell's bestselling 2020 novel of the same name, with the author and Zhao co-writing the screenplay. It acknowledges that the names Hamlet and Hamnet were interchangeable in Shakespeare's day.
"There's a lot of heaviness in the film," said Joe Alwyn, who portrays Bartholomew. "It's a really heartbreaking story but I think hopefully also one that's hopeful and uplifting as well and full of as much love as it is grief and the two kind of go hand in hand."
"Hamnet", which is produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, will be released in cinemas globally in late 2025 and early 2026.