Directed by and starring Branagh as Shakespeare, the film is released by Sony Pictures Releasing UK and also stars Judi Dench as Shakespeare’s wife Anne, and Ian McKellen as the Earl of Southampton.
The year is 1613, Shakespeare is acknowledged as the greatest writer of the age. But disaster strikes when his renowned Globe Theatre burns to the ground, and a devastated Shakespeare returns to Stratford, where he must face a troubled past and a neglected family.
Haunted by the death of his only son Hamnet, he struggles to mend the broken relationships with his wife and daughters.
In so doing, he is ruthlessly forced to examine his own failings as husband and father. His very personal search for the truth uncovers secrets and lies within a family at war.
The film is written by Ben Elton and is his first original drama.