HAMNET

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

The opening text states that the names “Hamnet” and “Hamlet” are interchangeable, per Stratford records in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

Agnes Hathaway (Jessie Buckley) walks into the woods, where she waits for her pet hawk to perch on her wrist with her falconry glove. William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), working as a Latin tutor, witnesses Agnes walking towards her barn. He goes to approach her and asks her name, and also approaches the hawk, who nips his finger in what Agnes says is a sign of affection. They share a kiss before he leaves.

Agnes and Will both have difficulties with their families. Agnes’s father is remarried to her stepmother, Joan (Justine Mitchell), and Agnes is close with her stepbrother Bartholomew (Joe Alwyn) despite not caring for Joan. It turns out that Will was tutoring her boys until he ran off to see Agnes. Meanwhile, Will lives with his parents John (David Wilmot) and Mary (Emily Watson), plus siblings Eliza (Freya Hannan-Mills), Edmund (Dainton Anderson), and Richard (Elliot Baxter). John belittles Will’s ambitions and frequently abuses him. Agnes is also said to be the daughter of a “forest witch”.

Will later goes to find Agnes in the woods, trying to gift her a new glove, though she says she already has one. When he expresses difficulty speaking to her, Agnes tells Will to tell her a story. He recounts the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice and their tragic romance. Agnes uses an herbal remedy learned from her mother to treat a cut on Will’s forehead.

Agnes has memories of her mother Rowan (Louisa Harland) and also talks about a vision she had of herself dying with two children.

Agnes and Will being a secret romance, which leads to Agnes leaving her house after it is discovered she is pregnant with his child. Bartholomew goes with her to the Shakespeare home, where Mary is angry at her son. Bartholomew and John agree that Agnes and Will are to be wed. The two marry, and Agnes gives birth to a baby girl, Susanna, in the woods.

Will continues to work for his father in crafting gloves, until he gets fed up with his abuse and fights back before leaving for good. He starts to focus more on his writing but also develops a drinking problem, leading him to get loudly frustrated and waking the baby. Agnes urges him to get work in London with the theater community. She is left alone with Susanna while pregnant with another child.

Agnes is set to give birth again, but Mary stops her from going out into the woods. Mary and Eliza tend to Agnes, who starts to remember witnessing her mother dying and how her father quickly remarried thinking that the children would not even remember her. After a painful birth, Agnes gives birth to a boy, Hamnet, but then discovers she is having twins and gives birth to a girl. However, Mary says the child is stillborn. Agnes holds the baby and speaks to her, and soon, the girl, Judith, starts to wake up.

Eleven years later, Hamnet (Jacobi Jupe) and Judith (Olivia Lynes) switch clothes to prank their parents and Susanna (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). The children also show a fondness for performing as Will passes on his love for the theater to them. The family later buries Agnes’s hawk in the woods.

Will buys the family a house in Stratford before going back to London to continue his work. After bidding his family farewell, Hamnet cries for his father’s absence. Agnes comforts her son and says she predicts Hamnet will prosper in life. While in London, Will sees a puppet show about the plague and how it is killing people.

Back at home, Judith contracts the plague, which Hamnet only notices after coming home from school. Agnes tends to her daughter, but Hamnet lays by his sister’s side, begging the sickness to take him instead of her. Judith wakes up feeling better, but now Hamnet is in excruciating pain over his illness. Agnes does her best to tend to Hamnet, who is seeing himself in an empty house, calling out to his mother. After writhing for a while, Hamnet dies in his mother’s arms. Agnes lets out an agonized wail before Susanna and Judith see their brother. Will later returns and can only mutter “That’s my boy…” upon seeing Hamnet.

In the aftermath, Agnes blames herself for Hamnet’s death, though Will says there was nothing that could be done. She says she also can no longer see the future. When Will says he is returning to London to rejoin his company, Agnes reacts in anger.

In London, Will starts to work on a new play and berates his lead actor (Noah Jupe) for not showing passion in his performance. He later goes by the Thames and contemplates jumping in, quietly muttering “To be, or not to be…”

Joan visits Agnes and her daughters with a pamphlet showing that Will is debuting his new play “The Tragedie of Hamlet” in London. Agnes travels with Bartholomew and gathers with a large crowd for the performance. During the show, Agnes frequently disrupts the play with outbursts, thinking that it is making light of Hamnet’s death. However, as the show goes on, Agnes realizes it is a tribute to him. The lead actor playing Hamlet performs a scene with Will, playing the ghost of Hamlet’s father. Agnes quietly beckons Will like she did on their wedding day, and Will puts emotion into his performance as though he is with his own son again.

As the play ends, Hamlet dies, and the audience reaches their hands out to him with his final words. Agnes envisions Hamnet on the stage, looking back at her before disappearing backstage. For the first time in ages, she begins to smile and laugh.

William Shakespeare, working as a Latin tutor, falls in love with a local woman named Agnes Hathaway, said to be the daughter of a "forest witch" (in reality, she taught Agnes how to use herbs for healing). Despite discouragement from their families, the two wed, and Agnes gives birth to a daughter, Susanna. As Will starts working with the theater company in London, Agnes gives birth to twins, Hamnet and Judith. Judith appears stillborn, but Agnes manages to revive her.

As children, Hamnet and Judith are very close. When Judith contracts the plague, Hamnet lays by his sister's side in the hopes that he will die with her, or the sickness may take him instead. While Judith recovers, Hamnet suffers a painful death in his mother's arms. Agnes and Will are overcome with grief, and their relationship strains.

Will returns to London and begins working on "The Tragedie of Hamlet" as a tribute to his son. Agnes and her stepbrother Bartholomew travel to watch the show, and although she is hesitant at first, she comes to acknowledge Will's intent, and she sees her son in the actor playing Hamlet. Agnes sees a vision of Hamnet walking by the stage before disappearing, and she smiles and laughs for the first time since his death.