Lady Macbeth

Representation / casting choices

Black and mixed-race actors fill prominent supporting roles (maid, lover, child, grandmother) in a 1865 rural English setting through colorblind auditions; the choices were publicly discussed by the team and critics as adding racial and class layers to the gender story, making them audience-visible.

Political / ideological dialogue

The film uses silence, glances, and violent actions instead of spoken political arguments or modern activist language.

Identity-driven story themes

The core arc follows a woman’s sexual liberation and violent rebellion against patriarchal marriage and inheritance control, with race intersecting through the affair and servant relationships; many reviewers read it as feminist and intersectional.

Institutional / cultural critique

It portrays Victorian marriage, paternal authority, and class systems as stifling and cruel, showing male sexual failure and domination alongside exploitation of servants; the critique stays within the period story without modern activist slogans.