Years later, once Amy has grown, she still has some immoral tendencies but shows signs of growth. In a petulant act of revenge, Amy knows she wants to get back at Jo but does not understand the gravity of her actions. The most notable example of this is her burning of Jo’s ( Saoirse Ronan) manuscript. In Gerwig’s film, Amy may not be the calculating type or even undergo a downward spiral in morality, but her vain impulsiveness is shrouded in moral ambivalence. This core idea is something that appears to a lesser extent in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, in which Pugh plays Amy March. That way, when the events of the film unfold, Pugh simply makes visible something that was already there. In both roles, Pugh does an excellent job at immediately signaling the internal cracks in her morality. The signs of trouble are underneath the surface from the start of the film. Similar to Lady Macbeth, Dani in Midsommar suffers a decline in morality.

She would go on to collect many rising star awards for her performance as well as win the British Independent Film Award for Best Actress. Together with the icy and atmospheric direction from William Oldroyd, Pugh’s breakout performance made her an immediate indie darling. Even when the camera pulls out for a wider shot, there is something about Pugh’s presence that signals a sense of modernity, a feeling that Katherine is meant for more than 19th-century wifely duties. As the camera often holds her face in a close-up, Pugh’s vacant eyes perfectly express her desperation for something more. It helps that cinematographer Ari Wegner and her camera seem to be obsessed with Pugh’s face. As for who is expressing this unease, much of the responsibility is placed on the shoulders of Pugh. Right from the start of the film, something is amiss with Katherine and Alexander’s marriage. One of the most impressive parts of the performance is that so much of Katherine’s rage is internalized until the moment she breaks. His trip allows Katherine the opportunity to finally explore the estate, something she had been forbidden from doing. One day, Alexander leaves the estate for a few days to take care of certain business matters. The husband, Alexander Lester ( Paul Hilton), constantly belittles Katherine about her inability to birth him a son, but, contradictorily, his own sexual interests never seem to go beyond staring at her from the opposite corner of the bedroom. Pugh’s performance is a tour de force, but it also provided an early showcase for the type of morally ambiguous roles that have come to define the early part of her career so far.Īfter being sold off to a man twice her age, Katherine grits her teeth through a loveless marriage.

However, before her rise to success, Pugh broke out with Lady Macbeth, a bare-bones dramatic thriller about the moral decline of Katherine (Pugh), a neglected housewife in 19th Century England. Her combination of an A24 horror film, Oscar nomination, and Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance has attracted eyes from all corners of the movie-watching world. Florence Pugh has enjoyed a meteoric rise to stardom in the past six years.

Lady macbeth florence pugh