Mark Rowley made me cry. In the "Is this a dagger..." soliloquy, I honest to god cried it was so good. Al Weaver and Akia Henry, they rocked it. Truly amazing.

You either like the anachronistic versions or don't. If you don't like them, then this is not for you. If you are open to them, then this is truly a 10 out of 10 version of Macbeth.

This 2018 Macbeth movie places each scene in a theatrical fantasy setting, actually the same approach the 2021 Joel Cohen film takes, but with a very different look. This production uses very young talent, but that doesn't mean they are not skilled and effective actors... they are. Mark Rowley takes on Macbeth with energy and passion. As to passion, I admire the effective exploration of the erotic relationship between him and Lady Macbeth, something Joel Cohen completely left out of his 2021 film, and it suffered for it. I think Shakespeare wanted that erotic love to be a part of the bond that the couple hold, and makes it easier to understand Lady Macbeth's manipulation.

Production values in this 2018 film are very high with fascinating transitions from scene to scene. You are not presented with a realistic setting at all and if you are open to going along with it it's a fun ride.

The grand dinner scene is played out much more thoroughly than in Cohen's film. This is when Lady Macbeth learns that her husband has had Banquo murdered and you can see in her response that she sees everything falling apart. The scene lasts ten minutes here and less than three in Cohen's version.

I really think Joel Cohen watched this movie, there are numerous similarities in the approach and even the framing of key shots.

All the scenes are presented as if wrapped into a giant, transparent 'Globe' and there is the figure of an older man, a writer in his study, who observes everything, sometimes with apparent surprise. I am supposing this is the author himself? All in all this 2018 is worth watching and I admire the efforts of all who were involved.

The main drawback I found watching the film was in its conception of Macbeth as complete fabrication. Scenes take place underneath, within or above a transparent phantom house. The actors all have different English accents so there is really no coherent wider/national context to which we can relate unless the impression is to convey a kind of diaspora of corruption (which the king tapping globe image may suggest). It's not that the insistent visual theme of transparency up against Shakespeare's text is anachronistic, it's self negating: the entire impression of text vs. Image becomes meaningless. And although the character of Macbeth descends into nihilism by the last act the movie certainly shouldn't. What is the human recourse when the only measure of structure against insanity is itself a phantom? Fairly bleak considerations here. 3 Stars for the great visuals.