REVIEW: Tenzing [2026]

Action/Adventure, Biography, Drama, Reviews

REVIEW: Tenzing [2026]

October 14, 2026

2–3 minutes

Rating: PG | Runtime: 128 minutes
Release Date: October 9th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: Apple Original Films
Director(s): Jennifer Peedom
Writer(s): Luke Davies / Jennifer Peedom and Luke Davies (story) / Ed Douglas (inspired by book Tenzing: Hero of Everest)

She’s calling you home.

The Lukla Airport in Nepal is also known as Tenzing-Hillary after the first two human beings to reach the summit of Chamolangma, also known as Mount Everest. And while it would be easy to commemorate the occasion with a film about Ed Hillary’s New Zealand beekeeper, Jennifer Peedom, director of docs Sherpa and Mountain, chose to tell the tale from Tenzing Norgay’s perspective instead. A boy’s dream come true against all odds.

Tenzing proves a wonderfully fleshed out and resonant biopic that uses the expedition led by British Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) as a through line to flashbacks of Tenzing’s (Genden Phuntsok) unwavering tenacity. A Sherpa by occupation rather than ethnicity, we discover he was underestimated and othered his entire life. By the community that raised him. The foreigners seeking to conquer the mountain. The men who demanded his expertise.

It’s as much an inspirational experience as a religious one considering writer Luke Davies ensures the subject’s motives remain pure throughout (Tenzing’s son Norbu has served as a producer since before a script was finished). It also centers the Sherpa and Tibetan cultures by using their languages and never missing an opportunity to take a shot at colonizers when necessary (perhaps best accomplished, ironically, by Brit Tom Hiddleston’s Kiwi Hillary).

With stunning climbing footage, heartfelt moments shared by young adult Tenzing (Tenzin Dalha) and his wife Dawa (Thinley Lhamo), an invigorating structure, and a great supporting cast (including Tenzin Jigmey’s Sherpa Pasang and Caitríona Balfe’s liaison Jill Henderson) that helps keep the drama and suspense grounded, it’s easy to stay invested. Despite differing impulses to scale the peak, this achievement is nicely rooted in a shared hope of wonder.

Any manmade conflict is therefore nothing compared to the risks taken opposite Mother Nature’s might. So, it’s not a throwaway when Tenzing asks the group to pray in the temple before going. It’s not a motivational speech when he reminds Pasang that every failed prior expedition did so despite the Sherpas rather than because of them. It’s honestly also just refreshing to see this type of tale from the side of spiritual awakening rather than solely manifest destiny.