Hamnet

Chloé Zhao spices her naturalistic cinematic language with Shakespearean prose in a star-studded, Oscar-tipped creation story about the world’s most famous play.

It is the 16th century, and William Shakespeare arrives in Stratford-upon-Avon in the role of a Latin teacher. There he soon becomes acquainted with Agnes, a falconer and descendant of forest witches, and love is immediate. But when the plague comes to the village and William’s theatrical ambitions demand more and more of his time, Agnes is left alone with the children in a treacherous struggle for survival. Prepare for the year’s greatest emotional release as Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, under Zhao’s gentle direction, dazzle in a drama as beautiful as it is aching—about the healing power of art and the birth of the work we now call Hamlet.

• Annie Karlsson