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Warning: Spoilers ahead
Thanks to the upcoming 98th Academy Awards, I’ve been hearing the term “Oscar bait” being thrown around quite a lot, most often in reference to Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” (2025). But how fair is that label? And what does “Oscar bait” actually mean?
In the most basic sense, “Oscar bait” refers to movies perceived as pandering to Academy voters, ones produced solely to rack up accolades on the award circuit. Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find the criteria for “Oscar bait” is suspiciously fuzzy: Some “Hamnet” critics cite the movie’s late-in-the-year release, strategically timed to generate buzz. Others claim it’s manipulatively melodramatic. Maybe its worst crime is its potential to elbow out a fan-favorite pick.
We covered “Hamnet” in our end-of-2025 media roundup, and I’ll be the first to admit it’s an impossibly heart-wrenching movie. Not coincidentally, it’s also a competitive contender in eight Oscar categories: Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score and, of course, Best Picture.
An adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 bestseller, “Hamnet” is about the death of its title character, William Shakespeare’s only son (whose name, the film’s prologue tells us, would’ve been interchangeable with a certain Prince of Denmark’s). The loss rocks William, inspiring him to write his famous tragedy.
While Paul Mescal plays an intriguingly quiet version of Shakespeare (who remains unnamed for nearly the first two hours of runtime), the real standout of “Hamnet” is Jessie Buckley, who delivers a career-best performance as William’s wife, Agnes. Her fierce portrayal of a mother moving through grief secured her the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama and cemented her as a frontrunner in the Oscar race.
So why the “Oscar bait” accusations? As you might expect for a movie centering on the death of a child, “Hamnet” is a heavy watch. There are scenes of excruciating pain, both physical and emotional, which warrant enough wailing from Buckley to make a packed theater hold its collective breath. The ending’s needle drop (Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight”) lands like a calculated gut punch.
But to reduce “Hamnet” to its most explosive moments (and fault it for foregrounding the reality of grieving) means overlooking its more subtle strengths, including a hypnotizing depiction of small-town Stratford-upon-Avon.
The movie initially grounds the Shakespeares’ lives in their rural surroundings. A striking opening shot shows Agnes curled at the base of a towering tree. Her family farm, which historians place on the outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon, is where she first meets William. The two routinely steal away to the forest during their secret courtship (forbidden, in part, because Agnes’s attachment to nature and knowledge of herbal medicine have earned her a reputation as a witch).
Agnes Shakespeare (Jesse Buckley) rests in the roots of an ancient tree in “Hamnet” (2025). (Credit: Focus Features via IMDb)
That connection to the landscape, with Agnes as its anchor, only intensifies with the birth of their children and relocation to Stratford-upon-Avon proper. There, Hamnet and his two sisters play in vast meadows. They learn about the plants growing in their overflowing garden from their mom (who references rosemary in a line that parallels Ophelia’s dialogue in “Hamlet”). Maybe most poignantly, the passing of Agnes’s hawk serves as a teaching moment, the children’s first up-close encounter with death.
London looms in the distance. William leaves for the city to pursue his writing career, a decision that stokes resentment between him and Agnes, who remains in Stratford-upon-Avon to care for their kids. Her tie to their rural home—and the domestic obligations that keep her there—are at odds with his pull towards urban life.
The two settings of “Hamnet”, although only around 100 miles away on a map, appear onscreen like different planets. Vivid green woods encircle Stratford-upon-Avon, while London’s streets are bleak, colorless, and racked by sickness. The couple has trouble reconciling that distance, but disease crosses the threshold all too easily. Hamnet eventually succumbs to the Bubonic plague in Stratford-upon-Avon, while Agnes looks on helplessly from his bedside. William doesn’t get to say goodbye; he’s away in London, working.
Confined to Stratford-upon-Avon and haunted by loss, Agnes is effectively a single parent for much of “Hamnet”. This dynamic raises still-pressing questions about gender roles and artistic ambition: After all, William has the luxury of fleeing to London to transform his son’s death into dramatic material. She, however, is left alone to deal with her own deep-cutting grief, plus the maternal duty to help her surviving children process theirs.
William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) stands in front of the Globe Theater’s forested backdrop in “Hamnet” (2025). (Credit: Focus Features via IMDb)
That tension burns under the surface of the movie, boiling over in the final sequence. Estranged worlds collide as Agnes secretly travels to the Globe Theater to watch a performance of “Hamlet”. The production confuses, angers, surprises, then ultimately moves her, becoming a first step in repairing her relationship with William.
Fittingly, this cathartic moment plays out against a painted forest backdrop, a mirror of the pair’s rural roots. This set, and the play itself, show Agnes that William has done anything but forget their son and their once-shared life, even during his time in the city.
“Hamnet” isn’t Zhao’s first success capturing rurality with care and precision. She won Best Director—and was the first woman of color to do so—for “Nomadland”, her exploration of on-the-road living with a documentarian feel. It, too, was burdened with the “Oscar bait” label. It also scored the Best Picture prize in 2021.
Is “Hamnet” destined for the same “Oscar bait”-to-Best-Picture pipeline? Could be. One thing is certain, though: If you’re watching in preparation for March 15, don’t forget your tissues.
“Hamnet” is currently playing in theaters.
This article first appeared in The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, recommendations, retrospectives, and more. Join the mailing list today to have future editions delivered straight to your inbox.
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