With “Midsommar” and her recent Oscar-nominated turn in “Little Women,” Florence Pugh’s name has been on many people’s lips within the last year. One might argue that her skyward trajectory to superstardom began with 2016’s “Lady Macbeth.”
Pugh plays Katherine—a young, demure woman in 1800s England sold and married off to a rich industrialist. She’s forced to spend her days confined to the house, dressing in large skirts to sit quietly and read her prayer book. But when her husband is called away, she begins a passionate affair with a stable hand named Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis). As their affair is found out, Katherine shows she is not quite as prim and proper as she appears to be.
The film masquerades as a period piece set in idyllic England. A powerless woman mistreated and ignored by her husband—that’s a story we’ve all seen before. But “Lady Macbeth” slowly reveals itself to be a psychological thriller. In his feature film directorial debut, William Oldroyd takes the audience on a journey. And we don’t realize it’s happened until we’ve already reached the destination.
[blockquote align=”right”]“In his feature film directorial debut, William Oldroyd takes the audience on a journey. And we don’t realize it’s happened until we’ve already reached the destination.” [/blockquote] Oldroyd’s style is sleek and subtle. “Lady Macbeth” doesn’t need a ton of exposition to say what it is trying to say. It’s about what a person might do in the name of desire. It’s both frightening and stunning. That’s a balance leading lady Florence Pugh can pull off very well. Without getting too far into spoiler territory, Pugh’s Katherine is quite a different person by the end of the film than she was at the beginning. But it’s a slow and calculated turn. With each action, Pugh holds herself a little taller, her words become a little sharper, and her eyes become a little colder. By the film’s end, she’s downright chilling. It’s a heavy load for a young actress, but Pugh carries it with ease.
Another performance of note is Naomi Ackie playing the soft-spoken servant Anna. With roles in “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and season two of “End of the F***king World,” Ackie is becoming of a household name herself. But the thing about her is that she’s something of a chameleon. She immerses herself in drastically different roles to the point that you clock an amazing performance before you realize it’s Ackie. She pulls off an incredible feat of face acting in this movie. One scene in particular has Ackie silently in the middle of a frame for a solid 30 seconds, unsuccessfully attempting to hold back tears. It has the same emotional punch as a heartfelt monologue. Ackie is like the ying to Pugh’s yang. The colder and moder calculating Katherine becomes, the more emotional Anna becomes.
With mesmerizing performances from Pugh and Ackie, “Lady Macbeth” is not one you can miss. This should be the standard for indie films everywhere.
