First trailer released for Hamnet with Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal

The first trailer has been released for Chloé Zhao’s film adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet, which will premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival before opening in cinemas later in the year.

Jessie Buckley plays Agnes Shakespeare, with Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare, in a story set in 1580s England that centres on the death of their young son Hamnet and the impact of this loss on both their marriage and Shakespeare’s later writing.

The cast also includes Jacobi Jupe as Hamnet, Joe Alwyn as Bartholomew and Emily Watson as Mary Shakespeare. The screenplay has been co-written by Zhao and O’Farrell, with music by Max Richter and cinematography by Łukasz Żal.

The project is produced by Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes and Nicolas Gonda for Neal Street Productions, with a replica of the Globe Theatre constructed for the shoot.

A WhatsOnStage Award-nominated stage version of the novel previously ran at the RSC and in the West End.

The film will receive a limited release in the US on 27 November 2025 ahead of a wider release on 12 December.