“For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come.”

That’s a line from one of William Shakespeare’s most quotable plays, Hamlet. A new film from Focus Features delves into the Bard’s life at the time the play was being written and focusing on the playwright’s family – his wife, here called Agnes, and his son, whose name is the film’s title: Hamnet.

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel of the same name, Hamnet is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s life and works, centering on the death of his 11-year-old son in 1596. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley stars as Agnes, his wife.

Shakespeare’s wife was named Anne Hathaway in real life, a name both the novel and the movie have chosen not to use, perhaps to avoid confusion with the Princess Diaries actress.

The footage from the trailer has dreamy, supernatural tone: Agnes touches William’s hand and sees visions of his future – and his future masterpiece Hamlet.

“You touched me, and what did you see?” Mescal asks Buckley in the trailer. Buckley replies, “I saw a landscape.” She adds, “And spaces, caves, tunnels and oceans, undiscovered countries. Deep dark black void.”

We also see mystery holes in the earth and doorways in the middle of a forest that do not belong there; we see Hamnet walking into the door and disappearing from view in one scene.

Oscar Winner Chloé Zhao wrote the screenplay with O’Farrell and directs – her first feature film since Marvel’s Eternals. Zhao won the Academy Award for Nomadland in 2021. Jacobi Jupe stars as Hamnet and the cast also includes Joe Alwyn, Emily Watson, Jack Shalloo and David Wilmot. Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes are producing alongside Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris and Zhao.

Hamnet will be released in select theaters on November 27th before it gets wide release on December 12th.