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It's simply wonderful to see that Malick is...alive.

Edit: Although, I suppose that his love for a film that no forumites (so far) feel even remotely the same about is a bad sign for The Way Of The Wind?

Surely this film is over-rated? Did Hamnet pull a Titanic?

I had a different reaction to this film than those expressed above. I (mostly) liked the ending, but didn't much like what came before it, which seemed poorly paced. Some scenes felt unnecessarily contrived/histrionic (e.g., the first birth); some felt too understated. There wasn't a sense that the director knew what tone she wanted. The relationship between the two leads lacked the development necessary for the climax. We are not allowed access to Will's emotional state, in part to align us with Agnes in her final recognition that her husband did indeed grieve as she had. But for this reason the film is far more interesting as a story about Agnes, even though it wants to be a film about both of them. The rehearsal scene in London near the end almost rectified that, but then we get that awful "to be or not to be" scene, which felt so out of place and cheap as a call-out to one of the few lines those who've never seen or read the play would know.

The performance at the end, though, worked for me. [spoiler?] At first it was a bit over-the-top (the histrionics of "how dare they utter my son's name"), but once Agnes started getting engaged in the play I felt the emotional payoff finally arrived. Sure, it's a bit contrived and sappy, but *as such* it works. The outlandishness of the hands reaching out for me had such dramatic effect precisely because it was unbelievable. The line between art and life is crossed here, and everyone in the theater feels it. The scene does the opposite of the awful "to be or not to be" scene. It takes a moment in the play that is not as overplayed and slows it *way* down, then estranges it by introducing a new element. Agnes's recognition (of her son, of her husband's grief, of the power of art and thus of the meaningfulness and power of what her husband does) becomes--literally--palpable: to her and to everyone who witnesses it. The problem with the ending is Will: his role in all this doesn't have the same poignancy (for the reasons mentioned above). He seems almost superfluous--even though it's supposed to be as much (if not more) about him than about Agnes. (And yes, that Richter piece is overused, but it's a beautiful piece.)

denti alligator wrote: Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:36 pm Some scenes felt unnecessarily contrived/histrionic (e.g., the first birth); some felt too understated.

I had a similar reaction, which led to the final scene feeling similarly contrived (with the familiar Richter piece reinforcing that). In particular, the birthing scene felt so odd but carefully (& cinematically) filmed that I thought the film was going to shock the viewer by turning into a body horror/Rosemary's Baby scenario.

I found the catharsis of the final scene at the Globe undercut by the overacting of the extras in the crowd - one bloke bawling his eyes out.