Hideo Kojima Says HAMNET Director Chloé Zhao “Must Be a Witch or an Angel” After Watching Her Oscar-Nominated Drama
If Hideo Kojima tells you a movie has the power to rewrite cinema, it’s probably worth paying attention. The legendary game creator and film obsessive recently walked out of a screening of Hamnet completely floored, and his reaction to director Chloé Zhao’s latest film was as heartfelt as it was unfiltered.
Kojima took to social media after seeing the film and didn’t hold back. According to him, what Zhao accomplishes in just over two hours feels almost supernatural.
“I watched Hamnet at a screening,” he wrote. “In just 126 minutes, it encapsulates all the sorrow, pain, loss, fear, love and joy, healing and hope found in life across all times and cultures.
“That beautiful final scene has the power to rewrite the history of cinema. It lays bare the miracle of movies. To be able to create something like this, Chloé Zhao must be a witch, or perhaps an angel.”
He’s 100% right! Hamnet is a great film, and that ending seriously beautiful and filled with heart and soul. Coming from someone who constantly studies how stories emotionally connect with audiences, that’s massive praise.
Kojima is responding to the pure feeling the film leave you with, the kind that sneaks up on you and sticks.
Hamnet is adapted from Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed historical fiction novel. The story explores the marriage between William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes, and the devastating loss of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet. The film leans into the idea that this personal tragedy became the emotional spark for Hamlet.
The cast helps carry that emotional weight of the story. Paul Mescal plays Shakespeare, while Jessie Buckley delivers a deeply felt performance as Agnes. Buckley’s work has clearly struck a chord this awards season, earning her a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards.
Kojima was especially moved by a moment late in the film. Agnes, crushed by grief and distance, travels from Stratford-upon-Avon to London to finally see the play her husband has poured himself into since their son’s death.
During a performance of Hamlet, as the title character dies on stage, Agnes reaches out her hand in silence to comfort the young actor. One by one, other audience members follow, creating a shared, wordless expression of empathy. It’s a scene built on restraint and human connection, and it clearly hit Kojima hard.
Zhao, who previously directed Marvel’s Eternals for Marvel Studios, once again proves she’s operating on a very different wavelength. Where that superhero epic divided audiences, Hamnet seems to have united critics and creatives around its emotional honesty.
The Academy certainly noticed! Hamnet has landed eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Casting, firmly positioning it as one of the defining films of the year.