Geek On Film

Hamnet

• Robbie Holmes • Season 5 • Episode 1

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0:00 | 4:46
SPEAKER_00

Hey there, folks. Welcome to the inaugural winner episode of Keekon Film. Um I'm Robbie, and today I'm going to talk about Hamnet. So I have a huge amount of affection for this movie. Uh I'm a sucker for Jesse Buckley. Let's all put that right up on Front Street. I have stock in her and I will watch her do anything. Uh, but she is unreal in this movie. Let's get into the synopsis of the play, uh, of the movie. Uh ironic play. There you go. Um I will read this out, but you are warned. There are spoilers from the first two words of the summary. Go watch Hamnet before I read this. After losing their son Hamnet to Plague, Agnes and William grapple, uh William Shakespeare grapple with the grief in 16th century England. A healer, Agnes must find strength to care for her surviving children while processing her devastating loss. This movie was written by Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell, and it was directed by Chloe Zhao. My review over on Letterboxed, which is four and a half stars with a heart, is so many feelings across the board. Jesse Buckley is a magical creature who gives an Oscar-worthy performance, but don't sleep on Paul Mescal as Shakespeare. I really, really was moved by this movie. I am very lucky to have gotten to see it with my wife. We've been talking about it for a long time. Um, I had probably showed her the trailer five times to get her excited about it. Uh, it is an unreal piece of cinema. Let's talk a little bit about the cast. I've already mentioned Jesse Buckley and Paul Mezcal, uh, but I think you should think through the rest of the cast because they are bringing it. Uh Emily Watson plays Mary, uh, who is um Paul, uh Will Shakespeare's mother and uh sort of an antagonist to Agnes. And then we should really talk about the children. Uh the the three children who are playing the main roles are Jacoby Jup, uh, who's playing Hamnet, who is phenomenal. Um, so much of this movie it hinges on you eventually caring about this child so much that when he's passed away, you can feel the grief that Agnes is going through. And then you eventually get to see that unfurl uh in Will by making Hamlet uh and living with this every day. Um I said to my wife, like, Agnes tells him that he should have been there, that he doesn't understand what it's like, and then you get to see the fact that Will took all of that in and is living with it and feels remorse and has to face it and had to write about it, and on stage watches his son die every night. And I think that is astounding. How art can help us process and grieve, and that's really what this movie is about. Um, I loved it. We should talk about the other children. Sorry, I got off track. Uh, Olivia Lyles plays Judith and Bodie Ray. Uh Brenok plays Susanna. Um, the other nice little switch here is Noah Jupe, who is actually Jacoby's older brother, plays Hamlet in the movie. And this apparently was a nice happenstance. The original Hamlet dropped out and he was available. So um you should, you should, you should listen to me on this one. Trust me. Uh it's gonna be worthwhile when we get to the Oscars, but it's worthwhile for you and your soul just to watch a movie like this. Um, I hope that this uh gets you to the theater before it's gone. Uh, but if it's after that, please watch this movie uh quietly. Put your phone aside. It's a slow film. Uh, you need to focus and let the waves of emotion just pile upon you until there's a catharsis that happens about 10 minutes before the end of the movie. It is well worth it. Uh, you've heard a lot about it, I'm sure. If you're listening or watching this, uh, I'm just one more voice in a chorus that is saying Jesse Buckley's amazing. Uh, but I will say this movie uh really, really moved me. Thank you so much for uh checking out my first winner. I'm super excited to be working on these and uh have a good day. I'll have more of these out soon. Bye bye.

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Robbie Holmes

Host