Lady Macbeth (2017)

Film: Lady Macbeth (2017)
Stars: Florence Pugh, Cosmo Jarvis, Naomi Ackle, Christopher Fairbank, Paul Hilton
Director: William Oldroyd
Oscar History: No nominations
Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

All right, I'm giving this a shot again.  I can't remember the last time I wrote a review on this blog, and I have been putting off a bunch of them for eons now, so I'm just going to plunk myself down at my computer and attempt to write as many as possible, being interrupted only sporadically to watch a movie in theaters (that I shall promptly review, of course, ending a vicious cycle!).  The first film I'm going to welcome back is conveniently enough the most recent one that I've seen in theaters, a bit of a summer surprise for me as it's not often you see a period film sneak into my local mainstream cinema (usually I have to crisscross about town to catch an art house picture).  Lady Macbeth, though, is a surprising study in claustrophobia featuring a hauntingly effective breakthrough performance by Florence Pugh.

(Spoilers Ahead) The film takes place in 19th Century Scotland, on a quite farmland.  Katherine (Pugh), has largely been sold into marriage to a man who has no sexual interest in her (played by Paul Hilton, her husband Alexander seems to potentially be homosexual, though the film isn't entirely clear on that point).  The movie progresses with her husband and father-in-law (Fairbank) continually isolating her from the world, punishing her for not bearing a son for her husband even though he won't consummate the marriage.  One day, they are both sent away, and she strikes up an affair with the new stable hire Sebastian (Jarvis), which initially takes the form of a carnal affair but eventually she becomes obsessed with him, and intent on replacing her husband with this man who satisfies her desires and her loneliness.  Initially she starts out by murdering her father-in-law, then slowly her murders become more and more ruthless, eventually suffocating a young boy who adores her to stop him from stealing her inheritance.

The movie's central theme is pretty opaque-showing that we are rooting for Katherine to take down her situation, but then eventually we are meant to be horrified that she's more-and-more willing to kill for lust and greed, in order to keep her happiness in the same exact space it's meant to be, even though we as the audience know that while this world is desolated, it's not without influence from those in the surrounding countryside.  I think one of the best touches in the film is in fact the scene where Alexander returns after a long time away, and he chides his wife for her very open affair.  In our eyes as the audience, we see Katherine as being deeply alone outside of Sebastian and her maid Anna (Ackle), but the reality is that the staff gossips about her as if she's a celebrity, and that has made it to the nearby villages.  Katherine may be alone, but she's always being watched, something that informs her characterization and the staggering conclusion where she makes her lover pay for her crimes, thus ensuring that she survives but is ensnared by the loneliness she had long tried to destroy.

The movie isn't perfect by any means-the climax may be chilling, but it's easy to predict, and none of the supporting character's save for Ackle really go above being a cartoonish version of themselves.  No the real reason to see this is the triumphant star performance of Florence Pugh, who is making only her second film here and her first as a lead.  Pugh excites Katherine, and fully inhabits the character to the point where you can't turn away even when you want to do so; I loved the way that she plays her as if she herself is trying to understand what her role should be.  Katherine is sly, but she's new to this life, and Pugh doesn't play her as a Machiavelli until the moment where it counts.  It's a really rare performance that announces a star arrival, and considering she has two major roles coming up (a leading part in the new Stephen Merchant film and a supporting one in next year's Liam Neeson thriller The Commuter), I suspect hers is a name we'll soon be hearing a lot more.

Those are my thoughts on Lady Macbeth-how about yours?  Are you with me that the film is good, but Pugh herself is a breakthrough?  Or are you wishing they'd gone in a different direction (seeing the world specifically from Anna's viewpoint may have been an interesting turn for the picture)?  Share your thoughts below!