At the Toronto International Film Festival, Hamnet has won the People’s Choice Award.
The win for Chloe Zhao’s directed drama has paved the way for a nomination in the Academy Awards, as in the past, whoever wins the top honour typically receives a nomination in the Oscars.
“I’d like to share that I was very lonely when I was young. And I wrote stories and I drew manga, and I put them on the Internet so that I could read the comments and the reactions of strangers,” the filmmaker says in her acceptance speech.
“Whether they liked them or not, I felt connected to them, and suddenly the world is a little less of a lonely place and life seems to have more meaning,” she adds.
The movie is based on the story of William Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, in the best-selling novel by Maggie O’Farrell.
It is worth noting that the public decides who will receive the top award at the TIFF after they have seen the screenings and voted afterwards, which is unlike other key film festivals that turn to a jury of film professionals.
In the meantime, Paul Mescal stars as William and Jessie Buckley as Agnes in the movie whose synopsis reads, “the story of Agnes – the wife of William Shakespeare – as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet.”