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****
Dir: William Oldroyd (15, 89 mins)
An adaptation by Alice Birch of the Russian novella Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov, this is a searing period drama, owing more to a thriller than any staid, corset heavy chamber piece. Florence Pugh is superb as a 19 year old girl married off by her father to a wealthy colliery owner’s son in 1865. It’s a loveless union, not aided by the repression visited upon her by her father and husband, she is to stay indoors and perform wifely duties, nothing more. This changes when she falls for groomsman Cosmo Jarvis, and they embark on a tempestuous affair which ultimately ends in tragedy. A pressure cooker environment is created through Pugh’s character as she brims with frustration at her lot and the misogyny of the time. This fantastic central performance lifts the film immensely, an accomplished portrayal of suffocating femininity and rebellion.
Opens April 28