Lady Macbeth, film review: Gothic-noir heroine destined to become a cult favourite

Not everything about the project works, but Lady Macbeth is still one of the most original films of the year, says Charlotte O'Sullivan
Veiled threat: Florence Pugh as Katherine in Lady Macbeth

Florence Pugh has a chin worthy of a Botticelli infant. Yet her beauty seems beside the point once you hear her chuckle. She chuckled in The Falling. She laughs the house down here.

It’s 1865 and Northumberland teen Katherine is brought into the home of a vicious bully to provide his son with an heir. Both men are abusive, but earthy “thick-skinned” Katherine exploits the faultline in their relationship and is tickled by the power she accrues as a result.

Instead of entertaining a dull man of the cloth, she all but kicks him out of the house (she’s a “Less tea, Vicar?” sort of gal). She becomes partial to alcohol, extra-marital sex and loose clothing. An alternative title? The Portrait of a Ladette.

Pugh, often (rightly) compared to Scarlett Johansson, won Breakthrough of the Year at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Other prizes have followed. Her depth and poise are incredible, especially as Katherine embraces more hardcore transgression.

The gothic-noir plot, loosely based on an 1865 novel by Nikolai Leskov, is what you might call playful (one murder, involving the breakfast room and an edible weapon, is pure Cluedo). But scriptwriter Alice Birch also makes serious points, not least by emphasising the racial diversity of the North-East and by giving the supporting players their own scratchy, wayward desires.

Katherine’s black maid (Naomi Ackie, excellent) is fascinatingly unpredictable, while even Katherine’s ghastly husband has a gorgeous singing voice and proves loyal to those he loves.

The film is exquisite to look at, which is amazing when you consider the minuscule budget. First-time director William Oldroyd, not having vast resources, comes up with formally simple, striking indoor shots (deprived of movement, our eyes feast on Katherine’s peacock blue dress, her marzipan-bright flesh and an audacious, alien-eyed moggy).

When outside, Oldroyd changes the pace, with hand-held cameras (he’s obviously a fan of Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights), and ensures a rare moment of tenderness is bathed in sunshine.

Excellent: Naomi Ackie as Katherine's maid

Not everything about the project works. Katherine is too lucky by half. Frankly, flouting authority seems a bit of a doddle (servants are cloth-eared, a suspicious grandmother, for no apparent reason, suddenly drops her guard). That a key witness becomes mute is also hard to swallow.

But these are quibbles. Lady Macbeth is one of the most original films of the year, with a heroine almost certain to become a cult favourite. Katherine (fit to shine the shoes of Under the Skin’s Female) slays, in every sense of the word.

Cert 15, 89 mins

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