MOVIE NEWS – Another strong sign has emerged that Hamnet is a serious Oscar contender. After its triumphant world premiere at Telluride, the moving drama has now won the prestigious People’s Choice Award in Toronto. Director Chloe Zhao scored this honor once before with Nomadland, which later went on to win two Oscars.

The Toronto audience award, founded in 1978, has often foreshadowed Oscar success, with seven winners later named Best Picture. Paul Mescal’s performance is already drawing awards buzz, with critics hailing it as a career peak. The Rolling Stone wrote that “among today’s young actors, perhaps no one plays the strings of emotional upheaval with such versatility as he does.”

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, the film explores a rarely depicted period in Shakespeare’s life. On RottenTomatoes it sits at 85%, and on Metacritic it has scored 90/100.

(Hamnet – U.S. release date: January 22, 2026)