--- title: "Macbeth" year: 2015 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/macbeth" fi1m_score: 77 critics_score: 73 critics_reviews: 29 published: "2026-09-17T08:19:21.626216+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T08:19:36.045889+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Macbeth (2015) Directed by Justin Kurzel · 1h 53m · MPA R · Drama, War **Fi1m score: 77** · Critics 73 from 29 reviews *In a sentence:* Michael Fassbender looks as though he needs a month’s sleep before anyone mentions a crown > Justin Kurzel’s *Macbeth* is worth seeing for Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, who make ambition feel painfully entangled with grief. The blood and mist can become oppressive, and the verse needs more room to breathe. ## Synopsis In 11th-century Scotland, Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) and Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard) attend their child’s funeral. War fills the Highlands with blood, mist and smoke, and Macbeth carries the damage of battle back into their marriage. He begins to imagine himself as king, with Lady Macbeth encouraging his ambition. Duncan (David Thewlis) holds the crown Macbeth wants. As supernatural forces enter this country of soldiers and grieving parents, the couple weigh what they might do to gain power. Their private loss follows them into decisions that reach beyond their household and into the struggle for Scotland. ## Review Justin Kurzel approaches *Macbeth* as a war film about people who have brought the fighting home. It is a forceful, uneven adaptation, worth seeing chiefly for the hurt and danger that Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard find in the central marriage. The opening funeral for their child makes bereavement part of the story before the pursuit of power takes hold. That choice gives the ambition a troubling human cause, though it also risks making grief explain more than it can. We were moved more than we expected by the child’s funeral, because the parents’ loss comes before we have had reason to judge them. Michael Fassbender plays Macbeth as a man whose body has survived combat without persuading his mind that it is over. His inwardness gives the violent passages an after-effect: even away from battle, he seems unable to settle. He makes the prospect of power feel like another danger approaching, which lends an uncomfortable urgency to his ambition. Marion Cotillard gives Lady Macbeth enough tenderness to make the marriage matter, and enough control to make it uncomfortable. Their shared bereavement helps explain why this couple might look to each other for permission to do terrible things. Yet Justin Kurzel’s emphasis on the soldier’s damaged mind leaves her with less room than this interpretation promises. Her own appetite for power sometimes gets folded too neatly into his distress, despite the care and restraint of the performance. Adam Arkapaw uses mist and smoke to make the Highlands inhospitable, with faces competing for attention against the landscape. The slow-motion fighting gives us time to take in the physical damage, although the insistence on finding another arresting image can hold a scene at the same pitch for too long. Fiona Crombie’s production design fits the dirt and blood of this Scotland, offering little suggestion that power might buy much comfort. The harshness is convincing, but there are stretches when we could do with seeing something other than another reason to despair. Chris Dickens gives the battle passages momentum, but the movement between scenes can feel abrupt. The screenplay by Michael Lesslie, Jacob Koskoff and Todd Louiso pares the play down, and some of the steps between temptation and commitment become too short. The words need time for a thought to change while we listen. Here, naturalistic delivery sometimes makes the verse sound subdued without making it feel more intimate. We can see the strain in a face while losing the reasoning that ought to make that strain interesting. Jed Kurzel’s score helps sustain the threat of violence, and its contribution to the film’s unease is considerable. The difficulty is how seldom the music and images together let that pressure ease. The quieter exchanges are often where these performances become most involving, because the actors have less to compete with. Among screen adaptations of stage plays, this makes a persuasive case for taking the action outside, then occasionally underestimates how much can happen while two people talk. Anyone seeking a lucid first encounter with the play should allow for some missing connections. Those willing to follow faces as closely as speeches will find plenty to hold them. Choose it for the two leads, provided you can face a child’s funeral before the fighting has even started. *Fi1m score 77, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics favour Justin Kurzel’s brutal, grief-driven Macbeth, with praise clustering around the performances and visual storytelling. Fassbender’s damaged, inward-looking Macbeth and Cotillard’s restrained Lady Macbeth give many reviewers a persuasive emotional basis for the violence, while the harsh landscapes, smoke and blood make the play feel forcefully cinematic. Several reviews welcome the emphasis on bereavement and battle trauma as a way into characters too often reduced to ambition alone. The spread is wide, however, and the chief dispute is over what happens to Shakespeare’s language amid the spectacle. Even favourable reviews note lost subtleties, narrative compression and occasional excess; others find the relentless bleakness monotonous and the psychology thin. Film Comment offers a sharp dissent, arguing that the grime and gore bury the poetry and that the child-loss backstory diminishes Lady Macbeth. The disagreement centres on whether Kurzel’s images deepen the tragedy or crowd too much of it out. ### Reviews we read (29) - **Empire**, Angie Errigo (90/100, inferred): Kurzel delivers a lean, mean and sensational blood-soaked adaptation that finds humanity in the Macbeths through grief over their lost child. Fassbender and Cotillard give unforgettable performances in an exquisitely shot, rigorously controlled film full of bold invention. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/macbeth-5-review/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Gary Goldstein (90/100, inferred): Kurzel's bold, viscerally thrilling Macbeth with its brutal battle-heavy storyline makes Shakespeare compelling even for those daunted by the dialogue, aided by strong performances from Fassbender and Cotillard. The propulsive pace and technical achievements create an immersive experience. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-macbeth-movie-review-20151204-story.html) - **Variety**, Guy Lodge (90/100, inferred): Kurzel's scarcely improvable new Macbeth is fearsomely visceral and impeccably performed, with Cotillard and Fassbender excelling in a thrillingly savage interpretation. The director's fervid sensory storytelling and inventive adjustments make it a standout Shakespeare adaptation. [Read](https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/macbeth-review-michael-fassbender-marion-cotillard-1201500514/) - **The Times**, Kate Muir (85/100, inferred): Kurzel delivers a lean, mean and powerful piece of cinema that is devastating, with strong performances and visceral battle scenes rooted in the Macbeths' grief. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/macbeth-r0nz2fqwk8j) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (80/100, inferred): Justin Kurzel’s visually rich film is no slog thanks to sublime leads who convey epic sexual confusion and heartache, with a powerful opening funeral scene adding resonance. The director’s focus on children as pawns in adult power games creates intense horror, though some stylistic choices like red filters feel overdone. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/macbeth-film-review-bloody-brilliant-royal-scots-a3071241.html) - **Little White Lies**, Anton Bitel (4/4/4): Kurzel's gritty, earthy reimagining of the Scottish play adds psychological depth through invented elements like the Macbeths' dead children and PTSD, resulting in a vital, intense version grounded in visceral realism. The astonishingly powerful performances by Fassbender and Cotillard are singled out for praise. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/macbeth) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Leslie Felperin (80/100, inferred): The adaptation assembles strong elements for an intensely compelling work that filters the story through a modern sensibility with brutal violence and strong performances from Fassbender and Cotillard. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/macbeth-cannes-review-797690/) - **Time Out**, Cath Clarke (4/5): This brilliant, brutal Shakespeare adaptation recasts the Macbeths as damaged by grief rather than mere ambition, with Fassbender's electrifying, PTSD-haunted performance and Cotillard's subtle Lady Macbeth standing out amid the savage Highland setting. Kurzel directs like a spare, savage western. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/macbeth-1) - **Total Film**, Matt Glasby (80/100, inferred): Kurzel’s stark, brutal psycho-drama is a mighty screen Shakespeare that grounds the tragedy in the Macbeths’ loss of a child and excels in pin-drop moments amid sound and fury. Strong performances, especially from Fassbender and Harris, make it riveting despite some disjointedness. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/macbeth-2015-review/) - **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): Kurzel delivers an unforgettable, blood-soaked reassembly of the play set in a harsh 11th-century Scotland, with visceral battle sequences, strong visuals, and a modern PTSD sensibility; the central relationship feels imbalanced, with Cotillard's Lady Macbeth overshadowed. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/macbeth-review/5087418.article) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (75/100, inferred): Kurzel brings operatic verve and textual interpretation to the Scottish play, with Fassbender and Cotillard a charismatic dream-team pairing. The film is physical and exciting but unsubtle at times. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/macbeth-review-shakespeare-michael-fassbender-marion-cotillard) - **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (70/100, inferred): Kurzel makes a stark, shorn-to-the-bone version set in brutal 1057 Highlands, with Fassbender and Cotillard as a cursed power couple; the mood is simmering mania with a glazed, blood-weary atmosphere. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/ead4036a-6833-11e5-a57f-21b88f7d973f) - **IndieWire**, Kaleem Aftab (70/100, inferred): The actors salvage the film with Fassbender and Cotillard delivering persuasive turns in Kurzel's take on the tragedy. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/cannes-review-michael-fassbender-and-marion-cotillard-salvage-justin-kurzels-macbeth-61568/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Christy Lemire (70/100, inferred): Kurzel's Macbeth is a visually stunning and viscerally violent take on the tragedy that maintains the supernatural elements while emphasizing grit and immediacy. Fassbender and Cotillard's charismatic performances anchor the film despite some truncation of the story. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/macbeth-2015) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (70/100, inferred): Kurzel's Macbeth is an assault on the senses with a nightmare atmosphere of blood and fire, excelling in visual and sensory storytelling though it leans heavily foul over fair. Fassbender and Cotillard deliver intense performances in this elemental adaptation. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/07/toil-and-trouble-the-current-cinema-anthony-lane) - **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (70/100, inferred): The slickly handsome new Macbeth mutes some of the play's dark magic, complicating questions of fate and guilt, but Fassbender's exceptionally fine performance gives reason to see it. Kurzel's brooding palette and the leads' work stand out amid the carnage. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/movies/review-macbeth-starring-michael-fassbender-awash-in-gorgeous-carnage.html) - **The AV Club**, Mike D'Angelo (C+): The film amps up the violence but subordinates the poetic language and soul of the tragedy to visceral action, resulting in a work that doesn't signify much beyond its brutal set pieces. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/macbeth-amps-up-the-violence-but-loses-the-soul-of-the-1798185882) - **Slant Magazine**, Sam C. Mac (2/4): Kurzel's stagey pretensions clash with his aesthetic choices, resulting in tediously recited scenes and an adaptation that fails to reshape the material effectively. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/macbeth-2015/) - **Film Comment**, Michael Sragow (30/100, inferred): The critic finds Kurzel's adaptation oversimplified and reductive, burying Shakespeare's poetry under grime and gore while leaving Fassbender and Cotillard with too little to work with. He singles out the flat, mumbled delivery of lines and the cheapening of Lady Macbeth's motivation through an added child-loss backstory. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/deep-focus-macbeth/) - **Vulture** (30/100, inferred): The brooding, bleaker-than-ever take plays the tragedy in a minor key with muted performances and long pauses, but it lacks energy and comes across as dim and less lively than other adaptations. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/review-macbeth-michael-fassbender.html) - **Den of Geek**, Ryan Lambie (4 out of 5): The critic praises Kurzel's intense, visually sumptuous take that uses mist, smoke and stark palettes to immerse viewers in the story of murder and madness. He singles out Fassbender's internalised performance and the fresh, disturbing reinterpretations of iconic scenes. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/macbeth-review/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (90/100, inferred): Kurzel delivers a brooding, dense and consistently magnificent adaptation that layers rather than streamlines the text. The result is the heaviest, doomiest and darkest version of Macbeth yet seen, and also the best. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/review-justin-kurzels-bloody-muddy-mighty-macbeth-starring-michael-fassbender-and-marion-cotillard-20151202/) - **The Wrap** (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Kurzel's visceral, blood-soaked reimagining of the play as a directorial triumph with fresh contexts for the soliloquies, gorgeous landscapes and adrenaline-fueled action. Fassbender and Cotillard deliver intense, psychologically convincing performances, though some dialogue subtleties may be lost in naturalistic delivery. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/macbeth-review-michael-fassbender-marion-cotillard-paddy-considine/) - **Digital Spy**, Ben Rawson-Jones (80/100, inferred): The critic hails the visually stunning adaptation and Fassbender's mesmerising, searing lead performance that grips the senses from start to finish. He singles out the intimate focus on expressions and the uniformly superb supporting cast, particularly Cotillard's sympathetic Lady Macbeth. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a671425/macbeth-review-a-ferocious-michael-fassbender-dominates-a-breathtaking-adaptation/) - **Eye for Film**, Richard Mowe (80/100, inferred): Kurzel finds a robust cinematic language for the familiar play, mixing Western and Game of Thrones vibes with powerful Scottish locations and an assault on the senses. The inspired casting of Fassbender and Cotillard puts both at the top of their game while the director deserves plaudits for sheer bravura effort. [Read](http://eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/macbeth-2015-film-review-by-richard-mowe) - **The Skinny**, Angus Sutherland (★★★★): The critic commends the bleak Scottish landscape (especially Skye) as a powerful foil to the action and the magnificent central performances. He singles out Fassbender's bristling, demented Macbeth and Cotillard's creepy, enthralling Lady Macbeth as the film builds to a strong climax. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/macbeth-justin-kurzel) - **Consequence** (B-): Kurzel's Macbeth is a fierce, visceral vision with a superb cast that approximates a modern action film more than a cautionary tale. It features intense performances from Fassbender and Cotillard and striking visuals, though the hyper-modern tactics like slow-motion and violent effects are debatable. [Read](https://consequence.net/2015/12/film-review-macbeth/) - **HeyUGuys**, Jo-Ann Titmarsh (65/100, inferred): Kurzel creates a visually striking hell of Macbeth's own making with strong performances and epic battle scenes. The film is too monotonous and hastens the moral descent without showing enough of the internal struggle between honour and power. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2015-macbeth-review/) - **Collider**, Brian Formo (C+): Kurzel's Macbeth is a fluid, breathless, and visually stunning film that is nonetheless extremely hollow and strips too much from Shakespeare's play. It works best as a sonic and visual calling card for the director, who substitutes the Bard's poetry with visuals. [Read](https://collider.com/macbeth-2015-movie-review-michael-fassbender/) ## Details - **Director:** Justin Kurzel - **Director:** Justin Kurzel - **Screenplay:** Michael Lesslie, Jacob Koskoff, Todd Louiso - **Cinematography:** Adam Arkapaw - **Editor:** Chris Dickens - **Music:** Jed Kurzel - **Production design:** Fiona Crombie - **Costume design:** Jacqueline Durran - **Producer:** Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Laura Hastings-Smith - **Cast:** Michael Fassbender as Macbeth; Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth; Paddy Considine as Banquo; Sean Harris as Macduff; Jack Reynor as Malcolm; Elizabeth Debicki as Lady Macduff; David Thewlis as Duncan; David Hayman as Lennox - **Runtime:** 1h 53m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 4 December 2015 - **Genres:** Drama, War - **Budget:** $15 million - **Box office:** $16 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=017nWFKsshY ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: free - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IN, IT, JP, MX, NO, NZ, PL, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Throne of Blood* (1957): Another Macbeth adaptation where fog, frightened faces and military ambition do the damage. - *The Ascent* (1977): War strips two soldiers down to choices that no landscape can soften. - *Queen Margot* (1994): Court politics become bloodily personal, with little distance between marriage and organised violence. - *Lady Macbeth* (2016): Unrelated to the play, but equally interested in desire that turns murderous. - *The Northman* (2022): For more mud, prophecy and family business conducted with appalling physical force. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/macbeth