Densa Washington and Francis McDormand star in the tragedy of Macbeth.

Its Shakespeare's tale of blood and betrayal, dreamlike daggers and stubborn stains, and

it's directed by Joel Cohen, who is helming this film on his own without his brother

Ethan for the very first time.

This adaptation fuses black and white cinematography with a clean, minimalist production design that

underscores the story's theatrical roots.

It also features two leads who are significantly older than usual, which makes the whole thing

hit differently.

I'm Aisha Harris.

And I'm Gwen Weldon and today we're talking about the tragedy of Macbeth on pop culture

happy art from NPR.

Here with me and Aisha is NPR Film Critic Bob Mandela.

Welcome back Bob.

Pretty be here.

And rounding out the panel is Film Critic and Culture journalist Bedatri D. Chaudhary

Hey Bedatri.

Hi, so good to be back.

Great to have you.

So the story of Macbeth, you likely already know if you went to high school, Macbeth played

here by Denzel Washington is a soldier who meets three witches.

They are played by a very bendy, very creepy Catherine Hunter.

They predict he will eventually become King of all Scotland.

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