Lady Macbeth
If Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde met Florence Pugh’s Lady Macbeth, it would be interesting to see who would come out alive.
This is a small, nasty movie about a very nasty young woman. Taking place on an estate in England in 1865, the largely unknown Florence Pugh plays Katherine, a young woman sold into a bad marriage who will do what is necessary to take charge of her miserable life.
Her husband’s name is Alexander, an abusive man played by Paul Hilton who is twice her age. Commanding her to stay indoors at all times of the day, he has her stand facing a wall after undressing at night where she hears him masturbating in a chair. And may I say that this is one of the more endearing moments in their relationship.
Regardless, her equally abusive father-in-law soon is found dead after eating some mushrooms provided by Florence. After starting a steamy sexual relationship with Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), an employee of her husband’s estate, she clubs Alexander to death after he starts to pummel her lover.
Having become rather successful at eliminating irritating members of the family, wait until you see what she does to an 8-year-old boy who is introduced to her as the illegitimate son of her late husband. Furthermore, despite the fact that he should have known that Lady Macbeth was not a woman to mess with, Sebastian eventually pays a price when guilt forces him to incriminate Florence.
While this is one of those films that will disappear from the theater quickly, it is so dark that it becomes rather fascinating in a twisted sort of way.
