Movies like National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013)
The best movies like National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013) are Richard III (1995), National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024) and Macbeth (2025). If National Theatre Live: Macbeth hooked you with its drama and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedOthello (1951)7.4/10 from 226 votes
- NewestMacbeth (2025)Released 2025
Richard III (1995)
Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous hunchback Richard, Duke of Gloucester, plots to seize power for himself. Masterfully deceiving and plotting against nearly everyone in the royal court, including his eventual wife, Lady Anne, and his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Richard orchestrates a bloody rise to power before finding all his gains jeopardized by those he betrayed.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024)
Blood will have blood. Unbridled ambition, supernatural forces, and murderous desires reign supreme in Shakespeare's most poetic examination of evil. When three witches tell Macbeth that he will become King of Scotland, he plots with his wife to attain the title through an assassination; a bloody act that gives him his crown and sends him careening down the path of his own undoing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Macbeth (2025)
Fearless and unforgettably creepy. This high-concept production, filmed live at London’s Donmar Warehouse, stars the formidable talents of David Tennant and Cush Jumbo in Shakespeare’s most infamous tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
National Theatre Live: King Lear (2018)
Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear sees two ageing fathers – one a King, one his courtier – reject the children who truly love them. Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
RSC Live: Richard II (2013)
A monarch ordained by God to lead his people. But he is also a man of very human weakness. A man whose vanity threatens to divide the great houses of England and drag his people into a dynastic civil war that will last 100 years.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
National Theatre Live: King Lear (2014)
An aged king decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him. His favourite, Cordelia, says nothing. Simon Russell Beale, whose recent appearances at the National include Timon of Athens and Collaborators, takes the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale (2015)
A jealous king jeopardizes his family, friendships and succession.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Macbeth (2010)
Renowned Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart features as the eponymous anti-hero in this Soviet-era adaptation of one of Shakespeare's darkest and most powerful tragedies.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Hamlet (1990)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, finds out that his uncle Claudius killed his father to obtain the throne, and plans revenge.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHamlet (1996)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBranagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet (2016)
Live theatre presentation of Shakespeare's classic play about two teenagers from warring families whose love affair ends in tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Hamlet (2009)
David Tennant stars in a film of the Royal Shakespeare Company's award-winning production of Shakespeare's great play. Director Gregory Doran's modern-dress production was hailed by the critics as thrilling, fast-moving and, in parts, very funny.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOthello (1995)
The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Antony & Cleopatra (2018)
Caesar and his assassins are dead. General Mark Antony now rules alongside his fellow defenders of Rome. But at the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love. In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
National Theatre Live: Othello (2013)
The Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
National Theatre Live: Hamlet (2015)
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father's death but paralyzed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMacbeth (2015)
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Coriolanus (2014)
When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Macbeth (1979)
Macbeth is a 1978 videotaped version of Trevor Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play by William Shakespeare. Produced by Thames Television, it features Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth. The TV version was directed by Philip Casson. The original stage production was performed at The Other Place, the RSC's small studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It had been performed in the round before small audiences, with a bare stage and simple costuming. The recording preserves this style: the actors perform on a circular set and with a mostly black background changes of setting are indicated only by lighting changes.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Hamlet (2018)
Hamlet captures the Almeida Theatre's 2017 acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's great play, recorded as-live in its West End transfer on the stage of London's Harold Pinter Theatre. Robert Icke's innovative modern-dress production, featuring Andrew Scott, Juliet Stevenson, Angus Wright and Jessica Brown Findlay, has been widely acclaimed as a dazzlingly intelligent, forcefully contemporary staging. The Evening Standard hailed Andrew Scott's 'career-defining performance... he makes the most famous speeches feel fresh and unpredictable.'
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)
Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Lear (1983)
An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters and rejects his one loving, but honest one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Othello (1951)
Manipulated by his jealous ensign Iago, the Moorish general Othello is driven to believe that his new wife Desdemona is unfaithful, setting in motion a chain of deception, jealousy, and violence that leads to tragedy.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNational Theatre Live: Twelfth Night (2017)
A ship is wrecked on the rocks. Viola is washed ashore but her twin brother Sebastian is lost. Determined to survive on her own, she steps out to explore a new land. So begins a whirlwind of mistaken identity and unrequited love. The nearby households of Olivia and Orsino are overrun with passion. Even Olivia's upright housekeeper Malvolia is swept up in the madness. Where music is the food of love, and nobody is quite what they seem, anything proves possible.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Macbeth (2018)
Entirely shot on green screen, Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been reinvented by director Kit Monkman (The Knife That Killed Me) in an exciting new film adaptation. Starring Mark Rowley, (The Last Kingdom, Luther). Monkman’s unique adaptation successfully bridges the gap between theatre and film to create a wholly new type of imaginative space. This radical new adaptation puts the audience’s engagement with the story centre-stage, amplifying the theatrical context of the original and creating truly innovative and thrilling cinematic vistas, whilst maintaining the language and themes of Shakespeare’s original play. Using background matte painting and computer modelling to generate the world in which the action plays out, the green screen allows Monkman to create his vision of a multi-tiered globe in which the characters play out their various fates.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Macbeth (2006)
Macbeth, loyal to his crime boss, Duncan, is told by witches that he will one day take over. Driven by their prophecy, he and his wife plot to kill Duncan, and takes the leadership of the gang for himself. Maintaining his power will require more murder and violence, finally driving his surviving enemies to unite and destroy him. A sexy, high octane retelling of this classic story.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisKing Lear (2018)
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Lear (2008)
An aging King invites disaster, when he abdicates to his corrupt, toadying daughters, and rejects his loving and honest one.
Why it matches: Fans watch both · both drama
The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
Years have passed since the Three Musketeers, Aramis, Athos and Porthos, have fought together with their friend, D'Artagnan. But with the tyrannical King Louis using his power to wreak havoc in the kingdom while his twin brother, Philippe, remains imprisoned, the Musketeers reunite to abduct Louis and replace him with Philippe.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like National Theatre Live: Macbeth?
The closest matches to National Theatre Live: Macbeth are Richard III (1995), National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024) and Macbeth (2025). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after National Theatre Live: Macbeth?
People who watched National Theatre Live: Macbeth most often go on to Richard III (1995), National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024) and Macbeth (2025).
What is the highest-rated movie like National Theatre Live: Macbeth?
Othello (1951), rated 7.4/10 by 226 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like National Theatre Live: Macbeth?
Macbeth (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like National Theatre Live: Macbeth?
Yes: Richard III (1995), National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2024) and Macbeth (2025).
How are movies similar to National Theatre Live: Macbeth chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside National Theatre Live: Macbeth, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.