Synopsis
Agnes navigates her complicated family dynamic, love, and unimaginable loss while raising her children alongside her, sometimes absent, playwright husband.
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Based on a novel by Maggie O'Farrell
Starring Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson and Jacobi Jupe
Released in cinemas January 2026
Review
If Jessie Buckley doesn’t walk away with an armful of awards for this, then honestly… what are we even doing? This performance is a full-bodied emotional experience. I wasn’t just crying, it was sobbing, proper, chest-heaving, “why did I come here without tissues?” sobbing. Agnes’ story is heartbreaking, devastating, and Buckley takes you on an emotional rollercoaster you absolutely can't get off.
Now, of course I haven’t read Maggie O’Farrell’s novel (shocking, I know), and I haven’t seen every Shakespeare adaptation in existence, but this was a very different take on things, and I loved it. Focusing the story on Agnes and the children gave the film such a unique, intimate perspective, and it made the tragedy feel personal rather than historical. It’s beautiful… and agonising.
The acting across the board is excellent. Paul Mescal is, unsurprisingly, very good, but against Buckley? Overshadowed. Emily Watson is a force, anchoring some of the film’s most powerful moments. All three of the Shakespeare children are fantastic, but Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet? I genuinely don’t know how someone that young delivers something that emotionally devastating. His final scenes absolutely destroyed me. Side note: it was bugging me trying to work out who played Hamlet, turns out it’s Noah Jupe, Jacobi’s older brother and star of A Quiet Place and Honey Boy, which is wild talent in one family.
Chloé Zhao should be a shoo-in for awards recognition, though I suspect she’ll be one of three in a very competitive race. The film has this gorgeous, natural connection to the world that evolves as the story does, and the subtle changes - camera angles, lighting, costume - are the kind of things I would normally miss entirely, but here they landed so perfectly that I actually felt their intention. That’s real craftsmanship, or I'm becoming a better movie viewer...
As for negatives? Honestly, the only real issue was that this was an impromptu cinema visit and I had no tissues. Absolute rookie error. I needed them. Desperately. Oh, and it was one of the worst audiences I’ve had in a long time… but that’s a rant for another day.
What you should do
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