The Tragedy of Macbeth Movie Review

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

Watch The Tragedy of Macbeth on Apple TV+
Written by: Joel Coen (written for the screen by), William Shakespeare (based on the play by)
Directed by: Joel Coen
Starring: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Alex Hassell, Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Brian Thompson, Stephen Root
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
A Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power.

Verdict
Turn on the subtitles, this movie was meant to be read. This appears to adhere to the original text faithfully. It's flowery language that feels unnatural even for a period piece. The movie has a great look, but it's unnatural in speech and action. Since it's an adapted play this is light on action. It's an indulgence that only someone like Coen could mange to get made. This is Shakespeare's play brought to screen quite faithfully.
Skip it.

Review
This is the first film directed by one Coen brother without the other's involvement.

This is a movie only an established director gets to make. It's an indulgent movie, in the vein of The French Dispatch or The Irishman. Shakespeare has been done many times, and this seems to stick closely to the stage play. As this is a different medium, I take issue with not gearing the action to a movie. You wouldn't adapt a book verbatim. This feels like a stage play because the movie makes no attempt to hide, alter, or transform it. It's easy to tell this is based on a play even if you didn't know Shakespeare as scenes are so static and prone to monologues.

Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

There is a lot of exposition. It's not bad, but the language certainly contains many flourishes. I turned on the subtitles as this is better to be read. The speech doesn't feel natural, even for a period piece. That's not because media often modernizes language. The disconnect is how the original was meant to be consumed. Denzel Washington is so charismatic, but this doesn't quite capture it. 

I like the look of this, and I 'd wager it's the best looking Shakespeare adaptation.

It's not easy to follow the flowery language as it was meant to be read. There's no action to bolster the dialog. Without the sound, you'd be hard pressed to know the story. One of the screenwriting 'rules' is that you should be able to follow the story without sound. I'm not going to tell a Coen brother how to write, but that speaks to why we don't see this kind of adaptation often. Even for the best it's not easy to do.