Page Kennedy’s movie MacBeth in Compton is exactly what the title says: an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s MacBeth set in the West Coast rap scene. It’s also a showcase for Kennedy, who fills the roles of star, writer, director and producer. And he has a promising idea—but this short film doesn’t reach its full potential.
There will be restagings and adaptations of Shakespeare until the end of time, and this isn’t the first project to modernize or otherwise update even this play. In 2022, for one example, Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga starred in a Broadway version of MacBeth that divided audiences and critics: it was well-cast, but creatively muddled. MacBeth in Compton faces a similar fate. There’s a solid cast at its heart—Kennedy (Blue Mountain State, Backstrom) as “Mac,” Candice Renee (Tyler Perry’s Bruh) portrays “Lady M,” and the underrated Russell Hornsby (Grimm, BMF) as Duncan. But it’s in the presentation where the film falls apart.
Even if Kennedy wasn’t being the jack of all trades on this production, he’d be a good fit for the title role; he’s both an actor and a rapper, who has released music of his own. It doesn’t feel like he’s playing at being an up-and-coming rap artist, because he’s actually been where his character is. Several of his tracks can be heard in the movie. Renee is asked early on to deliver a rap version of Lady MacBeth’s mission statement, and while it doesn’t entirely land (no one will expect a reference to breast milk in a rap song), she does it with conviction and has the ferocity that the character demands. Hornsby doesn’t have much to do, but that’s also a product of the source material, and he makes an impression regardless.
But stylistically, MacBeth in Compton feels scattered. There’s a heavy use of on-screen text that might look good, but it winds up being a distraction. It’s also interesting that while Kennedy has his characters mostly speaking the Shakespearean text, the movie has on-screen subtitles that translate it into modern slang. It seems like this should be the other way around, if the subtitles are needed at all. It is genuinely interesting, for those who recall having to figure out Shakespeare in high school, to compare what they’re hearing to Kennedy’s translation. But that also takes the viewer’s attention away from the performances. And with less than 20 minutes, Kennedy has to make the biggest impact possible.
Modern adaptations of Shakespeare are a wonderful idea in general, for exactly the reason that MacBeth in Compton exists. MacBeth‘s plot lends itself perfectly to the “rap game” setting. And though Shakespeare’s works are beautiful, modernizing them can make them more accessible to a broader audience. In 2005, the BBC had ShakespeaRe-Told, which took MacBeth and turned him into an ambitious chef, played by James McAvoy. It preserved what’s made the play so memorable, but also presented it in a way that was easier to get one’s head around. MacBeth in Compton has the right idea, the right setting, and a trio of good actors; it just needs to refine its creative direction.
It’s not clear if Kennedy intends this to stand as a short film or if it’s a proof of concept for a full-length feature; given the run time, he’s only able to get to a portion of MacBeth‘s plot. If it’s the latter, he has enough to work from, if he strips back some of the visual elements and commits to a fully modern adaptation. If it’s the former, this movie is intriguing, but it doesn’t resonate in the way that it could.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kennedy Entertainment.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
