Hamnet (2025): Shakespeare’s Family, the Real Hamnet & What’s True

Hamnet, directed by Chloé Zhao and released in December 2025, reimagines William Shakespeare’s most intimate story—the loss of his son Hamnet—and its echo across plays like Hamlet and Twelfth Night. Here’s everything you need to know about the film, which stars Paul Mescal as the Bard and Jessie Buckley as his wife, Anne Hathaway, including the truth about Hamnet and what the film gets right and wrong about Shakespeare’s family and works.