Macbeth (2007) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The Weird Sisters are reimagined as schoolgirl witches who begin the film desecrating a cemetery beside Lady Macbeth's vigil. This modern take uses their youthful appearance to emphasize the corruption of innocence and foreshadows the descent into moral decay that will consume Macbeth and his wife throughout the story.

Foreshadowing: The opening scene shows the witches planning to meet Macbeth later, setting up their prophetic encounter during his drug trip.

• weird sisters
• schoolgirls
• witches
• prophecy
• opening scene

Macbeth is persuaded by Lady Macbeth after the witches prophesy he will rise to Duncan's position. Initially hesitant, he succumbs to his wife's relentless manipulation and the prophetic promise of power. Lady Macbeth drugs Duncan's guards first, then frames them for the murder, giving Macbeth the opportunity to steal their knives and kill Duncan in his chamber.

Foreshadowing: Before the murder, Lady Macbeth questions whether Macbeth has the ruthlessness needed, showing her intent to push him toward the deed.

• duncan murder
• lady macbeth
• persuasion
• prophecy
• throne

Lady Macbeth drugs Duncan's bodyguards, rendering them unconscious. While they sleep, Macbeth steals their knives and uses them to murder Duncan. After the crime, the guards are found with blood on their weapons, and Macbeth kills them to prevent them from proving their innocence, effectively erasing his own alibi.

Foreshadowing: The plan is hatched when Lady Macbeth learns Duncan will be their guest at Inverness.

• frame guards
• drugging
• knives
• cover-up
• Inverness

Banquo's ghost appears at Macbeth's celebratory dinner because Macbeth ordered his murder, ridden with guilt over his betrayal of his closest companion. The ghost represents Macbeth's fractured psyche and mounting paranoia, manifesting at the very moment he tries to celebrate his stolen throne. His visible terror unnerves the guests and deepens their suspicions about how he obtained his power.

Foreshadowing: Macbeth previously sent two killers to eliminate Banquo and Fleance, succeeding only in killing Banquo.

• banquo ghost
• banquet
• guilt
• paranoia
• mental breakdown

The witches tell Macbeth that no man born of woman can kill him, giving him false confidence. However, Macduff was born via cesarean section, technically making him 'not of woman born' in the traditional sense. This loophole allows Macduff to fulfill the prophecy and kill Macbeth during the final battle at Dunsinane.

Foreshadowing: The witches also warn Macbeth to fear Macduff specifically, narrowing the threat.

• witches prophecy
• macduff
• caesarean
• loophole
• prophecy

After learning from the witches that his reign will never be secure and seeing a vision of Fleance as the future leader, Macbeth flies into a rage and dispatches murderers to Macduff's home. Seeking to eliminate potential threats and revenge against Macduff who has fled to join the rebellion, the assassins kill Lady Macduff and her young son in a brutal attack.

Foreshadowing: The witches' prophecy enrages Macbeth, and Macduff has already fled to join Siward and Malcolm's forces.

• macduff family
• murder
• revenge
• tyranny
• assassins

Lady Macbeth's sanity crumbles under the weight of her guilt over orchestrating Duncan's murder. She becomes obsessed with repeatedly washing her hands, convinced she can remove imagined bloodstains. The trauma overwhelms her completely, requiring a doctor to tranquilize her, and she ultimately commits suicide before Macbeth's final battle.

Foreshadowing: Her guilt was foreshadowed from the moment she pushed Macbeth toward the murder, and it consumes her progressively.

• lady macbeth madness
• guilt
• suicide
• blood
• mental breakdown

Macbeth is killed by Macduff during the final assault on Dunsinane. Malcolm's forces surround the fortress, driving Macbeth's army back. Macbeth is cornered in the cellar and wounded in combat with Macduff. He staggers to his bedroom, where Lady Macbeth's body lies, and dies there beside her.

Foreshadowing: The witches' prophecy about 'no man of woman born' killing him proved misleading, and Macduff's unusual birth provided the loophole.

• macbeth death
• macduff
• final battle
• duncanine
• killed

After Macbeth is killed, Fleance, Banquo's son who escaped Macbeth's assassination attempt, emerges as the heir to the former gang leadership. Macduff carries Fleance away from the battlefield to ensure his safety, and he is hailed as the next leader, suggesting the cyclical nature of violence and power continues despite Macbeth's downfall.

Foreshadowing: The witches previously showed Macbeth a vision of Fleance being hailed as the future gang leader, which had enraged him.

• fleance
• succession
• gang leader
• heir
• cyclicle violence

After seizing the Cawdor Club, Macbeth and Banquo celebrate by drinking alcohol and taking pills found on the table. During this hallucinatory state, the three witches appear and prophesy that Macbeth will soon hold Duncan's position and command the gang. This vision propels Macbeth toward his ambitions for the throne.

Foreshadowing: The witches' prophecy directly triggers Macbeth's ambition to murder Duncan and seize power.

• drug trip
• hallucinations
• witches
• prophecy
• cawdor club