Macbeth is a 2015 epic historical drama film directed by Justin Kurzel and written for the screen by Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, and Michael Lesslie, based on the Shakespeare play.

The story follows the Scottish lord's rise to power after receiving a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland.

Like the play it was adapted from, the film dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake.

It received generally positive reviews from film critics who praised both Fassbender and Cotillard's performances, as well as those of the rest of the cast, visual style, script, direction and war sequences.

Afterward, he sourly complains to his wife that killing Duncan was for nothing as Macbeth has no heirs, so the crown will pass to Banquo and his son, Fleance, as prophesied.

They show him a vision of slain soldiers who tell him to beware Macduff, and that Macbeth shall be King until Great Birnam Wood comes to the royal castle at Dunsinane Hill.

The boy soldier's ghost who gave him the dagger tells Macbeth that he will not be slain by man born of a woman.

Macduff states he was untimely ripped from his mother's womb and Macbeth drops his dagger, saying he won't fight (the prophecy).

Malcolm leaves the throne room while Fleance takes Macbeth's sword and charges through the empty battlefield, disappearing into the smoke.

[24] Macbeth premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May 2015 and was released in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2015 and in France on 18 November.

The site's critical consensus reads, "Faithful to the source material without sacrificing its own cinematic flair, Justin Kurzel's Macbeth rises on the strength of a mesmerizing Michael Fassbender performance to join the upper echelon of big-screen Shakespeare adaptations.

"[28] Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[29] Writing for The New York Times on 3 December 2015, Manohla Dargis complimented Fassbender's performance in the lead role, stating: Kenneth Tynan once wrote that 'nobody has ever succeeded as Macbeth' because the character shrinks from a complex figure into a cowering thug.

The exception, Tynan continued, immediately contradicting his claim, was Laurence Olivier, who in a 1955 production 'shook hands with greatness.'

With his Macbeth, Mr. Fassbender, who routinely shakes hands with greatness in films that don't remotely do the same, produces a man whose anguish eventually becomes a powerful counterpoint to his deeds, partly because he's already dead by the time he utters his first word.

[30]Cotillard's performance also earned high praise from critics, particularly for her rendition of the famous "Out damned spot" monologue.

Guy Lodge from Variety stated that "Cotillard electrically conveys misdirected sexual magnetism, but also a poignantly defeated sense of decency," and noted that it was a performance that "contains both the woman's abandoned self and her worst-case incarnation, often in the space of a single scene," and remarked that "Her deathless sleepwalking scene, staged in minimalist fashion under a gauze of snowflakes in a bare chapel, is played with tender, desolate exhaustion; it deserves to be viewed as near-definitive.

"[31] Luke Buckmaster of The Daily Review rated the film four out of five stars, calling it "bold" and "fearless" and praising the production values as well as Fassbender and Cotillard's performances, but criticised the actors' poor enunciation or peculiar accents, which distracted from the film's other qualities.