Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Hamnet review and Bugonia review reveal two of the films in her Top 5 List of 2025. Their mastery and originality are staggering.

Hamnet review

There’s one word that I hear most often in descriptions, reviews or conversations about the film Hamnet, and that would be ‘tears,’  followed by ‘cry.’ That’s saying a lot for a film these days, in which so many elicit tension, fear, anger, sighs, delight, surprise and laughter, but seldom real tears. To say that Hamnet is deeply moving is an understatement, as everyone who sees it agrees.

It’s impossible to watch director Chloé Zhao’s tender yet masterful film without shedding a heartfelt tear or two or two or three hundred. It’s impossible to watch director Chloé Zhao’s tender yet masterful film without shedding a heartfelt tear or two or two hundred. She tells this subtle yet shattering story with originality and sublimely soulful style that is sure to gain ultimate laurels during awards season.

It’s a fictional telling of the relationship between William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) from their first meeting through their courtship, into their marriage and the birth of their children, then the painful death of their beautiful son Hamnet. Then comes the healing…or not.

The names Hamlet and Hamnet were interchangeable at the time, in case you were wondering.

While it’s set in the late 16th century, the intense feelings of love, loss and recovery are universal and timeless. Here they’re presented in their simplest, yet most enrapturing forms. From the stirring cinematography of Lukasz Zal to the emotional score of Max Richter to the sumptuous production design of Fiona Crombie to the elegant adaptation by Maggie O’Farrell, the film features one of the best production teams ever assembled.

Which should come as no surprise, since Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes are among the producers.

Also uncannily good are the performances by Mescal, Buckley and Jacobi Jupe as an angelic young Hamnet, in addition to his older brother Noah Jupe, who plays Hamlet in Shakespeare’s seminal production of the play in the Old Globe theater, presented as a heart wrenching tribute to the son he lost. You’ll be hearing much ado about the two young actors as well during awards season.

Few films are able to render me silent, floating in a sea of emotion, for hours after viewing. I envy you the experience of seeing it for the first time.

Rated: PG-13

2 Hours 5 minutes

Bugonia review

On a wildly different and entrancing note is Bugonia, from director Yorgos Lanthimos, whose energetic and insanely original efforts always intrigue, confound and delight.

For Bugonia, he’s once again working with Emma Stone. Is she or isn’t she his muse? However that question is answered, they’ve done some of their most brilliant work together, and I’d say Bugonia not only equals but exceeds Poor Things. Lanthimos, as you may or may not know, is a bit of a polarizing director, you’re either crazy about his original visions, or you’re just not into them. It’s pretty obvious which way I swing.

In Bugonia we see Stone as Michelle, a brilliant and inordinately disciplined CEO of a booming high tech company. Her interpersonal skills may be lacking, but she makes up for that in corporate vision. And yes, to answer the obvious question, that head-shaving scene was authentic.

Meanwhile, Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, a prepping, conspiracy theorizing beekeeper who lives with his naive cousin Don (Aiden Delbis). Teddy is convinced that the world is being taken over by aliens, and Michelle is their fearless leader. He has no choice but to kidnap her and torture her to get the information necessary to thwart the aliens’ evil plot.

Yes the film is bloody, absurd, and manipulative—in a good way. Audiences teeter back and forth as the plot unfolds. Is he…? Is she…? Are they…? And that’s half the fun of this dark and merciless comedy that is bound to stay with you for some time.

Look for many a nomination for Lanthimos, Stone and Plemons in the near future, as awards attention mounts. Bugonia is outlandishly beguiling.

Rated R

1 Hour 58 Minutes

If this Hamnet review or the Bugonia review encourages you to run (don’t walk) to the cineplex, reserve the best seats ahead of time at Fandango.com.

Lisa Johnson Mandell’s Hamnet review and Bugonia review reveal two of the films in her Top 5 List of 2025. Their mastery and originality are staggering.