Denzel Washington's new movie lands rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Amy West

September 28, 2021 at 6:58 a.m.·2 min read

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand's new movie The Tragedy of Macbeth has scored a rare 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Based on the eponymous Shakespearian play, the Joel Coen-directed mystery thriller centres on Macbeth's murderous attempts to seize the Scottish throne after receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches.

The Walking Dead's Corey Hawkins, The Boys' Alex Hassell, Game of Thrones' Ralph Ineson, The Queen's Gambit actor Moses Ingram, Doctor Foster's Bertie Carvel and Harry Potter stars Kathryn Hunter, Brendan Gleeson and Harry Melling round out the cast.

Ahead of the black-and-white film's release on Christmas Day, Entertainment Weekly critic Leah Greenblatt branded it a "stark, sumptuous" retelling of the 17th-century classic, and praised the works of both cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and production designer Stefan Dechant in her review.

"For all its physical beauty and austerity, that hurried, heightened reality makes it hard to forget that what you're watching is less a standalone movie than an exceptionally well-staged play put on screen," she added. "Still, there's real resonant power in all that sound and fury — a tragedy stripped back and reborn but the essential truth of it undiminished, half a millennium on."

Elsewhere, Little White Lies' Charles Bramesco celebrated Coen for delivering a "visceral, haunted and severe" take on the Bard's original material.

He said that the filmmaker's vision "coaxes out not just the intensity in the play – every 'gritty' take has done this, from Roman Polanski to Justin Kurzel – but its older renderings too."

The Daily Beast's Nick Schager claimed that it "breathes fiery new life" into the enduring tale, while Culture Mix's Carla Ray highlighted the "powerhouse performances" of McDormand and Washington.

Check out more reviews here.

The Tragedy of Macbeth will be released in cinemas on December 25, before streaming on Apple TV+ on January 14.

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