Paul Mescal Says It is Not A Huge Shock

Warning: Some SPOILERS lie forward for Hamnet!Although a largely simple exploration of affection and grief, Hamnet sneaks a shock into its ending that Paul Mescal says is not as huge of a twist as it could appear. Mescal co-leads the forged of the movie as William, an artist who falls in love with the forest-loving Agnes and begins constructing a household together with her. They discover their happiness all of the sudden upended by the loss of life of one in every of their youngsters, which might encourage one in every of William’s most iconic works.

Whereas many of the movie primarily factors to it being the case, Hamnet‘s climax confirms that Mescal’s character is supposed to be that of William Shakespeare, who makes use of the loss of life of his eponymous son to subsequently encourage the creation of his celebrated play, The Tragedy of Hamlet. The ending serves as a hopeful second of development for each William and Agnes of their makes an attempt to course of the loss of life of their son.

Nevertheless, as Mescal revealed in an interview with ScreenRant‘s Liam Crowley, Hamnet’s ending twist is not meant to be an enormous shocker to audiences. Whereas confirming that there was “a deliberate selection” to not say Shakespeare’s final identify till in the direction of the tip of the movie, the Oscar nominee defined that they had been “not making an attempt to cover it from the viewers,” however extra so put a special highlight on the long-lasting playwright:

Paul Mescal: It is within the e book, however we’re not making an attempt to cover it from the viewers. We see him writing Romeo and Juliet briefly within the movie, but it surely’s not about defending that. It is extra so going that he is a husband, he is a father, he is an artist. He is not like, THE William Shakespeare, however it’s sort of satisfying whenever you hear Bartholomew say, “We’re searching for William Shakespeare,” within the movie.

A lot to Mescal’s level, William Shakespeare being one of many central protagonists of Hamnet probably did not come as a shock for these accustomed to Maggie O’Farrell’s historic fiction novel that it is primarily based on, as it is much more direct with the playwright’s work being intertwined within the story. Moreover, followers of Shakespeare could also be accustomed to the varied theories that Hamnet’s loss of life impressed extra than simply Hamnet, with some drawing connections to every thing from Romeo and Juliet to Twelfth Evening.

That being mentioned, previous to the film’s midway level of confirming Mescal’s id as Shakespeare, Hamnet does supply a number of teases of this reveal all through. Someday after the delivery of the titular little one and his twin sister, Judith, they and their older sibling Susanna carry out their very own model of the witches’ scene in Macbeth, whereas a second within the darkest throes of grief sees William quote Hamlet’s iconic speech of “To be or to not be?“. Even within the early days of his and Agnes’ romance, there is a glimpse of him writing the long-lasting Romeo and Juliet line of “What gentle by yonder window breaks?“.

Whereas it could not carry the identical general weight for the movie as its thematic explorations of grief, it is exhausting to not deny Hamnet‘s late-movie reveal of Shakespeare’s id would not include a singular invitation to rewatch the movie. Whether or not to seek out different nods to the playwright’s iconic work, or to take a look at William’s love and loss by a special context, O’Farrell and co-writer/director Chloé Zhao’s gradual strategy to this reveal actually hasn’t harm its attraction with critics or audiences alike.

Launch Date

November 26, 2025

Runtime

126 minutes

Director

Chloé Zhao

Writers

Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell

Producers

Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg, Nicolas Gonda, Caroline Reynolds, Maggie O’Farrell