Going Medieval: 25 films to watch while waiting for Game of Thrones season 8

16) Macbeth (2015)

Into the breach with Shakespeare we go once more, with the latest film adaptation of Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard. This play represents the bard at his bloodiest, so this action-filled interpretation may well appeal to fans of Game of Thrones.

“Double, double, toil and trouble!” Three witches prophesy that Macbeth shall one day become the king of Scotland. Encouraged by his ambitious wife, Lady Macbeth, he embarks on a campaign to murder the current king and just about everybody else who gets in his way.

Macbeth opened to high critical praise but bombed at the box office. That’s unfortunate, because it is sumptuously filmed and Fassbender and Cotillard are brilliant in the lead roles. The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis offers accolades for the magnetic Fassbender:

"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. Mr. Fassbender gives you a reason to see this Macbeth, although the writing isn’t bad, either."

Macbeth lands an 80% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes but stumbles with an audience score of 64%. Personally, I side with the reviewers: if you think this is a stuffy old filming of a stagey play, watch the trailer. It’s a perfect film for a cold winter night, a roaring fire, blood red wine and a big plate of haggis.