What if the biggest story ever written started with a family trying to survive the unthinkable? Hamnet turns grief into something intimate, vivid, and strangely life-affirming.
Film details
- Title: Hamnet
- Premiere date: 22 January 2026
- Director: Chloé Zhao
- Runtime: 126 min
- Language and subtitles: English spoken, Dutch subtitles
- Age rating: 12
- Where to watch in Rotterdam:
What’s the vibe?
Quietly intense, lush, and deeply emotional, with a naturalistic feel that keeps pulling you closer. Think candlelit domestic scenes, big feelings in small rooms, and the kind of silence that says more than any monologue ever could.
Trailer
Check out the trailer below.
Why you might like it
- Eyes: Zhao’s painterly approach makes 16th-century life feel tactile, earthy, and real.
- Heart: A love story and a grief story, without melodrama, just raw humanity.
- Mind: It reframes Shakespeare through the people who paid the emotional price, and it sticks with you.
Critical reception
Critics have praised Hamnet for its emotional precision, performance strength, and Zhao’s delicate control of tone, often calling it one of the year’s standout literary adaptations.
It also landed major festival attention, including TIFF recognition, and has been discussed as an awards-season contender in multiple outlets.
Scene to watch for
The early family-life sequences: the kind where nothing “big” happens, yet everything matters. Watch how the film uses touch, routine, and tiny gestures to make you care, fast.
Recommended pairing
- Food: Something warming and simple after the credits, like a hearty soup or hot chocolate, plus a small sweet pastry.
- Activity: A slow walk home (or a quiet tram ride with your headphones in) and a quick voice note to yourself about what hit you hardest.
Need-to-knows
- This is an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel Hamnet, which imagines the personal story behind Hamlet.
- Listings can differ on production-country info across cinema pages, so if that detail matters to you, double-check the screening page you’re booking from.
- LantarenVenster sometimes programmes themed formats around new releases, so it’s worth scanning their page for special screenings when you book.
