Based on the Maggie O'Farrell novel of the same name, it tells a story of the brith anddeath of the son of Agnes Hathaway (Jessie Buckley) and William Shalespeare (Paul Mescal) - yes, that William Shakespear - and the grief they endure in their different ways.
First meeting, courtship, disapproving parents, marriage, children. The playwright spend ing much of his time away in London, leaving wife and household to cope, as he builds his reputation and career. With inevitable tensions in the marriage, made worse by their differing approaches to the loss of their child. He throwing himself deeper into his work, she withdrawing deeper within herself. It takes the prodcution of Hamlet to bring understanding and resolution, but it's a herd road to get there.
The coulourless life of the sixteenth century, and the inherent sadness of the theme, can make it a hard watch. Both leads are excellent, bringing the characters to life, with real emotional depth, but that still doesn't stop it from dragging at times (I almost fell asleep at one point...) so that my overall feeling was one of disappointment. I'd enjoyed the novel, and had hopes for the film as a result, but felt short changed by the slowness of the plot and the over realiance on shoskc moments.
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