This story contains spoilers forHamnet,though it's based on a true story that happened more than 400 years ago.
Molly Thomascried so hardwatchingHamnetin the movie theater that the woman sitting in front of her reached back to hold her hand for 10 minutes.
From its description alone, it's clear that this film is a tearjerker: It's a fictional imagining of the marriage between William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, before and after the death of their son, 11-year-old Hamnet — who is,according to the movie,the namesake and inspiration for the playHamlet.
Thomas, a London-based lawyer, was well aware thatHamnetwould devastate her emotionally. She prefers her movies that way —One Battle After Another, The Testament of Ann LeeandSentimental Valueall made her weep during the same recent film festival. InHamnet's case, she started sobbing halfway through the film and continued through the end credits.
"I cry extremely easily … I'm very easily manipulated," Thomas jokes. "I have cried so hard at movies that I have lost three to five eyelashes … I've always been drawn to films that make me feel something."
She may bawl more than most, but she's far from the only person who has lost it duringHamnet.As it gains momentum as an awards season frontrunner — it was recentlynominated for six Golden Globes— audiences are hearing that it's a tour de force of abject sadness and gleefully submitting themselves to the gut-wrenching experience. They're sniffling through half its 125-minute runtime and emerging tear-soaked andrebornto post about it online.
Wait, why isHamnetso sad?
Hamnettackles one of the saddest things a human being can experience: the loss of a young child. Watching the death of sweet, rambunctious Hamnet, played affectingly by Jacobi Jupe, through the eyes of his parents is nothing short of devastating.
"The bond that I felt to Hamnet truly is what shattered me — we only know him briefly, but we see that he is a child. Innocent, curious, ambitious and playful,"Marygrace Graves, a New Yorker, tells Yahoo. "I cried leaving the theater, in the cab home and for about 15 minutes when I got home."
Fortunately, she knew Paul Mescal (who plays Shakespeare) to be the quintessential sad boy, infamous for only taking on heartbreaking roles, so she packed tissues.
Chloe Zhao, who directed and cowrote the film, knows she's wreaking havoc on the hearts of the masses. At its Toronto International Film Festival premiere,she led theatergoersin abreathing exercise, encouraging them to tell themselves that "all of our emotions and feelings are welcome."
Emilia Marcus, a college student in South Carolina, had a feeling that the movie was going to hit hard for her because she has siblings around Hamnet's age. Still, she knew she wanted to see Mescal and get the "full story" of the legendary writer's life through his wife's perspective.
She, like many other viewers, knew tragedy was coming but hadn't read the bestselling 2021 book of the same name by Maggie O'Farrell. That major, devastating plot point wasn't all that had people choked up, though.
Daysha Niles, a pre-K teacher from Utah, was moved by so much of what happened with Agnes, who's played by Jessie Buckley — her tender relationship with a pet bird, the way she cried out for her mother while giving birth and the lessons she taught her children through nature.
"Basically, I was emotional throughout the whole movie," Niles says.
So why are people wilfully subjecting themselves to this heartbreak?
AsHamnet's popularity grows, more people are starting to complain about its emotional heavy-handedness. Some people feel manipulated to the point that New York magazine has declared it the firstvillain of awards season. Some say that's the point.
"You know what I don't like? People are now doing backlash toHamnet," Thomas says. "Hamnet's good. Get a life."
Carlie Casey,a screenwriter and actor in Los Angeles, tells Yahoo the sadness was done with purpose and intention. It is so beautifully shot, indulging in nature and serene moments of romantic connection, that audiences are forced to "slow down and immerse [themselves] into this world with these characters," she says.
"I loved the stillness," she adds. "There was always an undercurrent of unease, even during some of the beautiful moments, because you could sense something was coming."
Similarly,Trey Nesbit,a content creator in Los Angeles, says theaters are like church to him, andHamnetwas "one of those life-altering moviegoing experiences." As the credits rolled, 12 other people — all over the age of 65, by his estimation — stayed completely still for several minutes. One person stood up to applaud, and the rest followed suit.
"The movie … was not afraid to reach into those primal emotions that people can have in the worst and the best times of their life," he tells Yahoo. "These big swings of emotion are known to work well and can be seen as cheap, but I do feel like, since Chloe is such a master at her craft, and the acting [is so] sublime, that I didn't mind the manipulation."
After all, isn't the point of art to make you feel … something?Madison Randolph, a content creator from Louisiana, felt emotion in every scene — even the joyful ones, which were tinged with sadness as she anticipated the inevitable loss of Hamnet.
"I love to question my existence through philosophy, art and film. I thought I might be moved by the film and cry at some scenes, but nothing like this," she tells Yahoo. "Anything involving grief or loss appeals to me. I want to see it depicted in film more."
Deborah Rayne,a filmmaker in New Jersey, purposefully didn't wear mascara to the theater, anticipating tears as a Shakespeare aficionado. The end, where it's revealed that Shakespeare's son lives on through the play he named after him, had Rayne "weeping buckets," and she was not trying to hold them back. That's sort of the point of the movie, she tells Yahoo — "there is catharsis in art."
"Some people feel better writing a poem after a loss. Some people feel better listening to sad breakup songs in their room at night. It's the same thing," Rayne says. "The only way to get to the other side of something is to go through it. To go through some heartbreak — to go through something emotionally taxing and challenging — is healing."