Lady Macbeth (2016)
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A young woman's quest for status leads her to commit a series of brutal murders to secure her place in the landed gentry.
The story
In 1865, Katherine Lester marries Alexander Lester, a man who possesses a repressed hatred for his domineering father, Boris. While living on a rural estate in Northumberland, Katherine finds herself confined to an indoor routine until she discovers the estate workmen abusing her maid, Anna. After freeing Anna, Katherine begins an overt affair with the workmen's ringleader, Sebastian. As Boris returns and treats Katherine with hostility, she begins to orchestrate a plan to remove him from her life, leading to a violent struggle for power and autonomy within the household.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1865, Katherine Lester marries Alexander Lester to join the landed gentry. They live on a rural estate in Northumberland, where Katherine is oppressed by Alexander's domineering father, Boris. Katherine begins an affair with Sebastian, a workman. After Boris discovers the affair and strikes Katherine, she poisons his breakfast, leading to his death. Katherine then moves Sebastian into the house. When Alexander returns and confronts her about the affair, Katherine bludgeons him to death with a poker. They live together as mistress and master until Alexander is presumed dead. A young boy, Teddy, and his grandmother, Agnes, arrive at the house. Katherine eventually smothers Teddy with a pillow to keep Sebastian with her. When a detective questions her about the bruises on the boy, Sebastian confesses to the murder and accuses Katherine of all three killings. Katherine counter-accuses him and Anna. Sebastian and Anna are arrested, leaving Katherine alone in the house to resume her solitary routine.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 89
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- William Oldroyd
- Writers
- Alice Birch · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Florence Pugh · Katherine Lester; Naomi Ackie · Anna; Cosmo Jarvis · Sebastian; Paul Hilton · Alexander Lester; Christopher Fairbank · Boris Lester; Golda Rosheuvel · Agnes; Anton Palmer · Teddy; Fleur Houdijk · Tessa
- Genres
- period drama; drama
- Themes
- gender; class; race; patriarchy
- Tone and mood
- expressionist; stark; minimalist
- Premise and plot tags
- period drama; crime; feminist cautionary tale
- Source material / true-story basis
- Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov (1865)
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and was praised for its stark narrative, its exploration of moral ambiguity, and the breakthrough performances of Florence Pugh and Naomi Ackie.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 89% · review count: 197; Letterboxd · score: 3.4 · scale: out of five stars · review count: 85
- Awards and nominations
- British Independent Film Awards · Pugh and Ackie's performances · 2017 · won; British Independent Film Awards · screenplay · 2017 · won; British Independent Film Awards · cinematography · 2017 · won; British Independent Film Awards · costume design · 2017 · won
- Production trivia
- The production design was influenced by the paintings of Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi.; The film was shot using mostly natural light and wide master shots.; The only music is an eerie theme which plays after each murder committed by Katherine.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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