On September 19, 1985, cartoonist Alison Bechdel jokingly laid out a rule for picking movies: a film must include at least two named female characters who have at least one conversation with each other about something other than a man. It sounds simple, but a surprising number of films don’t clear the bar. And when they don’t, it often means women exist more as part of someone else’s story than their own. This June, we’ll use the Bechdel Test as a jumping-off point to explore how films change when women get to exist as fully realized characters.

This week, we close our series with a film that fully centers a woman’s perspective. Hamnet (2025), directed by Chloé Zhao and based on the novel by Maggie O'Farrell, reimagines the life of William Shakespeare through the eyes of his wife, Agnes. Jessie Buckley, in an Academy Award-winning performance, brings Agnes to life as the emotional center of a story shaped by love, loss, and memory following the death of their young son. Starring alongside Paul Mescal as Shakespeare, the film shifts focus away from the famous writer and toward the woman whose inner life drives the story. The result is a powerful conclusion to our series and a reminder of how much a story can resonate when we’re invited to see the world from a different point of view.

***This film is being presented as part of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library's Wednesday Movie Club, a weekly showcase of movies that matter for people who love movies. Attendees will be invited to discuss the film immediately following the screening. Registration is not required.

Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2h 5m
Production Year: 2025 
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal, Zac Wishart, James Lintern, Joe Alwyn
Director: Chloé Zhao