The Uprising (2026)
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Premise: Set in fourteenth century England, a farmer (Andrew Garfield), a military veteran (Tom Hollander), and a priest (Jamie Bell) lead the peasants in revolt against higher taxes. An army of angry commoners marches on London.
What Works: The Uprising was directed by Paul Greengrass, a filmmaker who has often made politically relevant, action-oriented pictures such as Green Zone, Captain Phillips, and United 93. For The Uprising, Greengrass applies his characteristically gritty and naturalistic filmmaking style to a period piece. This story dramatizes the fourteenth century Peasants’ Revolt. In the years following the Black Death, Britain’s government levied increasing taxes upon the common people who were already struggling to survive. Grief and desperation escalated into a violent rebellion. Historical films are made to comment on the present. The parallels between the fourteenth century and the twenty-first century are evident without the filmmakers spelling it out or becoming unnecessarily anachronistic. The filmmakers do not idealize revolution. The film acknowledges the hardship and injustice that led to the revolt but also how a demand for relief turned into a bloodbath. It’s a sober look at history and a relevant warning for our own time. The Uprising is extremely well made with a grim and gritty style that captures the hardship of medieval life. The actors look filthy and unglamorous. Andrew Garfield stars in the lead as the farmer known as the Ploughman. He lost his family to the plague and witnesses abuses of power, first by the government and later by the revolutionary mob. Garfield’s performance is the emotional force that drives the film. Woody Norman stars as King Richard II who was only fourteen years old and followed the direction of his council. He gradually emerges as a crafty Machiavellian ruler. Norman’s performance is very good and the filmmakers design the sequences to draw attention to his character arc.
What Doesn’t: The Uprising concludes with a coda sequence in which it is revealed that the Ploughman has become the legendary outlaw Robin Hood. The coda scene comes across tagged on. The film doesn’t work up to this revelation. No hints are dropped throughout the movie and learning that the Ploughman is actually Robin Hood doesn’t change the meaning of what we’ve seen nor does it reshape our understanding of the Robin Hood character. The final scene forces a Hollywood ending by giving the protagonist and the chief villains a final face-to-face showdown. The scene is tonally and thematically inconsistent with the rest of the film.
Bottom Line: The Uprising is a grim historical tale. It stumbles in the ending but this is a provocative political film burning with moral righteousness and tempered by skepticism.
Episode: #1117 (September 20, 2026)