Lady Macbeth is like a Victorian Gothic noir with more than a hint of Lady Chatterley's Lover.

An adaptation of a Russian novel which is inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The film is set in 19th century north east of England. Katherine (Florence Pugh) is a young teenager married off to Alexander (Paul Hilton.) He is much older than her, cold and maybe even sexually inadequate.

Alexander is the son of a wealthy mine owner, Boris (Christopher Fairbank) who is brutish and cruel.

Trapped in a cold, loveless marriage with only the black maid Anna as company. When both men are away, Katherine takes an interest in Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis) a mixed race young estate worker and they have a passionate affair.

When Boris finds out of the affair, Katherine does not shy away from what she has done. When Alexander returns, she flaunts Sebastian in front of him. Katherine becomes crueller as she desptaches both her father in law and husband.

However both Anna and Sebastian find out that Katherine is willing to get more darker to get what she wants.

Lady Macbeth features a mesmerising and beguiling performance from Florence Pugh. It is far away from these slushy chocolate box romantic period dramas. Katherine is steel edged and deadly.

LADY MACBETH is an example of another potentially interesting movie let down by a slow, dragging kind of execution that renders the whole experience quite the bore. It's about a repressed woman living in the Victorian era, who makes some dramatic changes in her life, particularly in regard to three men who come into it and affect her in different ways. The film has a simplistic plot and as such feels dragged out; it becomes obvious where this is going around the halfway mark and yet it takes an age to get there. Things merely plod along to the ultra-obvious climax that you saw coming a mile off. With a bit of life, vibrancy and suspense added to the story this could have been thrilling, and the actors are certainly effective at investing you in their lives. But overall this is more of a thumb-twiddler than a seat-edger.

In a 19th century English country estate, Katherine has been forced into a loveless marriage with Alexander Lester. He is unable to consummate the marriage. His father Boris is a strict ruthless businessman. While Alexander and Boris are away, the estate hands have stripped black housemaid Anna naked to be weighted like livestock. She has a passionate affair with the aggressive new groomsman Sebastian.

This is great emotional and physical brutality throughout the movie. Sebastian is the classic bad boy and Katherine easily falls into him. She is more complicated than a heroine in distress. Florence Pugh delivers a performance beyond her age. There is so much stoic power and defiance in her. What she does with the chair made me laugh in disbelief. One expected a shrinking violet for her character at the start but she is much more delicious than that. She is a creature of beautiful ugliness.