A costume drama of raw passion and startling violence, Lady Macbeth masterfully engrosses and disturbs in equal measure in its portrayal of a soul destroyed during the pursuit of freedom.

Costume dramas are usually such pretty affairs. Hardly a year goes by without a Jane Austen adaptation or historical epic receiving an Oscar nomination for its production designs. Even those films that dealt with the harshest periods in history (Elizabeth, The Other Boleyn Girl) can be gaudy in look. Lady Macbeth doesn’t have that problem.

In look, tone and attitude, this is a costume drama that follows its own path. Based on the classic Russian novella “Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District“, this William Oldroyd directed adaptation is a film stunning in its direct and gritty approach. It is also set to make a star of its leading lady Florence Pugh.

She stars as Katherine, a young woman in 1865 rural England married into a loveless marriage with middle-aged man Alexander (Paul Hilton), who brutish, drunken and loveless behaviour is worsened by the presence of his growling and cold father Boris (Christopher Fairbank).

When both Alexander and Boris leave Katherine alone on her estate with only the servants as company, her much welcomed newfound freedom is coupled with a monstrous desire that is filled by new worker Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). When their love affair is threatened, Katherine dives into a deep dark chasm of silent rage that manifests in horrific acts of violence.

Oldroyd presents the violence in an unflinching and confronting fashion in scenes that will haunt the souls and minds of those that watch. In no way does Lady Macbeth exercise in gory bloodletting, but rather there is a chilling frankness to these scenes of murder not only of another human being, but also the murder of the souls of two lonely figures brought together by lust, connected by love, and separated by the destructive attitudes towards sex, race and class during that time.

Florence Pugh delivers an excellent turn as a young woman of beauty and intelligence, who slowly becomes an ugly version of herself with every unwise and sinful act. A superb introspective performance, Pugh slowly transforms into a monster driven by love and longing for freedom, yet twisting those concepts into a wretched version of themselves with every murderous act.

In no way should Florence the character nor Lady Macbeth the film be celebrated as some kind of feminist champion for the modern age. Yes, the movie is set during a period of monstrous ignorance and inequality towards the female gender. But just like today, it was also a time where murder most cold and most wicked was both illegal and immoral. 

They say, “beware a woman scorned”. They also say, “revenge is a dish best served cold”. But with Lady Macbeth, there is nothing more chilling than watching the destruction of a soul, especially in a film as engrossing and confronting as this.