A Streaming Guide to <i>Hamnet</i>
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Chloé Zhao returned to the big screen in 2025 with Hamnet, a devastating and deeply intimate period drama adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel of the same name. Following her Oscar win for Nomadland and her foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Eternals, the director turned to 16th-century England to explore marriage, art, and unspeakable loss in a story inspired by William Shakespeare’s own life.
The film earned the coveted Toronto People’s Choice Award last year, immediately positioning it as a major contender heading into the 2026 awards season. Sure enough, it earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jessie Buckley), Directing, Adapted Screenplay, and more. Buckley went home with the film’s sole win and honored the “beautiful chaos” of motherhood in her acceptance speech.
The story centers on Agnes Hathaway (Buckley) and her husband William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal)—especially their grief in the wake of losing their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. Set in 1596, the film traces the family’s early years, the birth of their children, and the tragedy that scholars theorize might have led to the creation of Hamlet. Although the material is drawn from the novel’s imagined history, Zhao makes every moment feel real and lived-in.
In an interview with IndieWire, Zhao reflected on turning inward after the whirlwind of Nomadland and Eternals. “In my thirties, I was chasing the horizons like a nomadic person, because for me it was easier to keep running,” she said. “Hamnet needed depth, maturity.”
Buckley approached the role of Agnes with the same fearlessness she brings to all her work. In her recent ELLE Women in Hollywood profile, she spoke about how drawing from her subconscious shaped her performance, including working with a dream coach to channel the imagery that surfaced while filming. “My job is to get more human,” she said. “To become more human, if I dare.”
Buckley and Mescal also completed a tantric workshop to build what she described as a necessary foundation for Agnes and Will’s marriage on screen. “We needed to build up a kinetic trust,” she explained, noting that the process was far more internal than physical.
She also reflected on the film’s depiction of mourning, explaining that Agnes’s grief doesn’t follow a single emotional path. “Grief and love isn’t one color,” she said. “There’s rage in there. There’s broken pieces of glass. It’s love, it’s everything.”
Here’s how to watch Hamnet following Buckley’s win.
Hamnet began exclusively streaming on Peacock on March 6.
It’s also available for rent and purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV.
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