Hamnet, the fictionalized romance and exploration of grief focusing on William Shakespeare’s family, is one of the most talked about pictures of the year and a 2026 Best Picture frontrunner. Directed by Oscar winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), as well as produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Hamnet has now debuted its official trailer, following the initial teaser.
Hamnet is co-written and based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Maggie O’Farrell, and stars Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare. After winning the People’s Choice Award at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, Hamnet will be in theaters starting on November 27. Check out the new trailer below:
The trailer details more of the story’s structure, following the relationship between Will and Agnes (renamed from Shakespeare’s real wife, Anne Hathaway), their happiest days with their three children (Susanna and twins Judith and Hamnet), Hamnet’s tragic death, and how the Bard’s magnum opus would allegedly be written in his son’s honor. An official poster for Hamnet has also been released, see below:
Hamnet‘s cast also includes Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, and Jacobi Jupe. Distributed by Focus Features, Hamnet‘s limited U.S. theatrical release begins on November 27, before expanding nationwide on December 12 and then to the United Kingdom in January 2026. Hamnet‘s perfect Rotten Tomatoes debut exemplifies its overwhelmingly positive reception by critics.
ScreenRant‘s Rachel Labonte also gave Hamnet a perfect review, praising its performances and the harshly realistic way it depicts the family’s grief. Hamnet is strictly a fictionalization of the lives of the Shakespeares, taking creative liberties with history, but in service of being very different from other semi-biographical features by delving into resonant characters’ emotions.
This is all possible because of how Mescal and Buckley portray the nuances of the characters’ experiences with romance, parenthood, career, and grief. Both previous Oscar nominees, Buckley is a frontrunner for the 2026 Best Lead Actress category, while Mescal will probably at least get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Zhao is also a force to be reckoned with, pulling together the emotional core and the historical mythos of Hamnet. The new trailer shows audiences more of what they are in for with more detailed snippets of the Shakespeares’ lives, but the reviews suggest nothing will prepare you for what it is like to actually see the movie.
