Director: Chloé Zhao
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Emily Watson
Running Time: 126 minutes
Synopsis: In rural England of the late 1500s, Agnes (Jessie Buckley) is a free spirited daughter of the forest. She meets and falls in love with William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal), who is tutoring in the area. She gets pregnant and they get married, then Agnes senses that William's creativity is stifled in the countryside. She encourages him to spend time in London, and she raises their three children mostly on her own, before a tragedy tests their relationship.
What Works Well: This mostly imagined recreation of the love and passion in Shakespeare's private life is a showcase for Jessie Buckley, as she carries the weight of believing in her man but on her own terms, giving birth to his children, and raising them on her own and through adversity. Director Chloé Zhao finds several devastating and emotionally charged highlights in the courtship and family-building scenes, Agnes' core connection with nature a source of strength and belief, but also foreboding. The production design merges the idyllic with the organic in creating a muddy peasant milieu.
What Does Not Work As Well: The final act unfortunately displaces all the character investment onto a stage filled with irrelevant actors, immediately robbing the drama of a well-earned payoff. Buckley and Mescal are reduced to unworthy reaction shots as Hamlet plays out with amplified emotions and the intrusion of Shakespeare's dense prose.
Key Quote:
Agnes: He loves me for what I am, not what I ought to be.
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