The Uprising: Release Date, Cast, Story, and True History Behind the 2026 Movie

The Uprising brings one of medieval England’s most dramatic conflicts to the big screen. Directed by Paul Greengrass and led by Andrew Garfield, the historical action drama explores the anger, suffering, and courage that fueled the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.

Rather than concentrating on kings, knights, and royal families, the movie places ordinary people at the center of its story. Its characters live under an unequal political system in which laborers carry the country’s economic burden but have almost no control over their own lives. When that pressure becomes unbearable, a local rebellion grows into an organized movement capable of threatening the English government.

With an experienced filmmaker, an impressive ensemble cast, and a historical event rarely portrayed in mainstream cinema, The Uprising has the potential to become one of 2026’s most interesting historical epics.

The Uprising Movie at a Glance

What Is The Uprising About?

The Uprising follows a character known as the Ploughman, played by Andrew Garfield. He is an ordinary working man who becomes the leader of a fierce popular rebellion against the government of King Richard II.

The story takes place in England in 1381, when resentment toward taxes, feudal obligations, corrupt officials, and economic inequality had spread throughout the country. Farmers, artisans, laborers, and other members of the lower social classes were expected to obey powerful landowners and government officials without question. The Ploughman eventually decides that continuing to submit is no longer an option.

According to the official Focus Features synopsis, Garfield’s character forms an army of ordinary people and challenges the king’s forces in a fight for justice. The studio also describes the film as being set against the true events of an uprising that helped shape the popular legend of Robin Hood.

The Ploughman appears to provide the emotional center of the movie. Instead of presenting the rebellion only through military battles and political negotiations, the film can show how national unrest grows from personal experiences. Grief, poverty, humiliation, and anger become the forces that transform a farmer into a revolutionary leader.

Although the movie is inspired by history, viewers should expect a dramatized interpretation rather than a documentary-style recreation. The Ploughman is not recognized as one of the principal historical leaders of the 1381 revolt. He appears to be a fictional or composite character created to represent the many ordinary people whose individual stories were not preserved in official records.

Is The Uprising Based on a True Story?

Yes, The Uprising is based on the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, which is also called Wat Tyler’s Rebellion or the Great Rising.

The rebellion occurred during the reign of Richard II, who was only 14 years old at the height of the crisis. Although Richard was king, England was largely governed by powerful royal advisers, landowners, and senior officials.

Several interconnected problems contributed to the revolt. The Black Death had killed a substantial part of England’s population during the previous generation. With fewer workers available, surviving laborers were in a stronger position to demand better wages and conditions. The ruling classes responded by attempting to limit wages and restrict workers’ ability to move between employers.

At the same time, the Crown needed money to support its continuing military campaigns in France. The government introduced increasingly unpopular taxes, including a poll tax that required payments from much of the adult population. The methods used to investigate and collect unpaid taxes added to the public’s anger.

The rebellion began in southeastern England before spreading rapidly through Essex, Kent, and other regions. It was not simply a spontaneous crowd of poor farmers. Artisans, tradespeople, village officials, laborers, and landholders also participated. A force numbering thousands eventually marched toward London to demand political and economic changes.

Historic Royal Palaces explains that a large rebel force entered London and targeted the officials it blamed for oppressive taxation. The revolt also produced the only successful breach of the Tower of London in the fortress’s history. Two senior figures, Archbishop Simon Sudbury and Treasurer Robert Hales, were captured and killed. More information about these events is available through Historic Royal Palaces’ account of the revolt.

The rebels demanded an end to serfdom, reductions in taxation, greater freedom, and the removal of unpopular royal officials. These demands made the uprising much more than a protest against one tax. It became a direct challenge to the social and political structure of medieval England.

What Happened to the Real Rebellion?

The most famous confrontation took place at Smithfield, where Wat Tyler met the young Richard II. Accounts of the meeting differ, but Tyler was attacked and fatally wounded after an argument involving members of the royal party.

With their leader dying and the situation close to chaos, the rebels faced the king and his armed supporters. Richard managed to prevent an immediate attack by presenting himself as the crowd’s leader and promising to address its grievances.

The government initially offered concessions, including written charters granting freedoms to some of the rebels. Once the immediate danger had passed, however, those promises were withdrawn. Royal forces regained control, and many participants and leaders were arrested or executed.

The revolt did not immediately end serfdom or overthrow England’s ruling system. Nevertheless, it demonstrated that ordinary people could organize on a large scale and force the monarchy to negotiate. It also became an enduring symbol of resistance to unfair taxation and abusive authority.

The Uprising Cast and Characters

Andrew Garfield leads a strong ensemble cast combining award-winning performers with actors experienced in historical and action dramas.

Andrew Garfield as the Ploughman

Garfield plays the Ploughman, the central figure who rises from an ordinary life to lead the rebellion. The character offers Garfield an opportunity to portray both intimate grief and large-scale political courage.

Garfield is known for emotionally demanding performances in movies such as Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, The Social Network, and Tick, Tick… Boom!. That background makes him a compelling choice for a character whose leadership appears to grow from suffering rather than ambition.

Cosmo Jarvis as Wat Tyler

Cosmo Jarvis plays Wat Tyler, one of the revolt’s most important historical leaders. Tyler helped organize the Kentish rebels and emerged as the movement’s principal spokesman during negotiations with Richard II.

Jarvis has previously demonstrated his ability to play physically commanding yet complex characters. His role as Tyler should be particularly important because the film places its fictional protagonist alongside a genuine historical revolutionary.

Jamie Bell as John Ball

Jamie Bell portrays John Ball, a radical priest whose sermons challenged England’s rigid social hierarchy. Ball argued against inherited privilege and became an important ideological voice within the rebellion.

The character may help the movie explain what the rebels believed, rather than treating them as an angry crowd without political goals. Through John Ball, the story can explore ideas involving dignity, equality, labor, and the moral responsibilities of those in power.

Stephen Dillane as Archbishop Sudbury

Stephen Dillane plays Simon Sudbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor of England. Sudbury was closely associated with the royal government and became one of the rebels’ principal targets.

Tom Hollander as Treasurer Hales

Tom Hollander portrays Robert Hales, the Lord High Treasurer. Because Hales was connected to the collection of the hated poll tax, the rebels regarded him as one of the officials responsible for their suffering.

The additional cast includes Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Jonny Lee Miller, Woody Norman, and Sky Yang. The complete official lineup can be found on the Focus Features movie page, although every supporting character has not been publicly identified.

Why Paul Greengrass Is a Natural Choice to Direct

Paul Greengrass is known for creating movies with urgency, realism, and an almost documentary-like sense of immediacy. His work frequently places individuals inside frightening events that are much larger than themselves.

Films such as United 93, Captain Phillips, 22 July, and the Jason Bourne sequels demonstrate his ability to build tension through movement, close observation, and controlled chaos. Even when working with major stars and large action sequences, Greengrass tends to keep the audience emotionally connected to the people trapped inside the conflict.

That approach could be especially effective in The Uprising. A medieval rebellion can easily become a distant spectacle filled with armor, mud, and anonymous crowds. Greengrass’s style may instead make viewers feel as if they are moving alongside the rebels through villages, streets, and violent confrontations.

Because Greengrass also wrote the screenplay, the movie represents his own interpretation of the revolt rather than a story he was hired only to direct. He is also one of the producers alongside Jason Blum, Gregory Goodman, Joanna Kaye, Joe Neurauter, and Lars Sylvest.

Is The Uprising a Robin Hood Movie?

The Robin Hood question has caused some understandable confusion.

The current Focus Features synopsis says the film is set during events that helped inspire the legend of Robin Hood. Some American promotional material also introduced the expanded title The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood. However, reporting in The Guardian noted that the film’s United Kingdom distributor described it as a historical epic about the Peasants’ Revolt rather than a conventional Robin Hood story.

The safest interpretation is that The Uprising uses Robin Hood as a symbolic connection. Garfield’s Ploughman may help represent how stories about resistance, justice, and taking power away from oppressive elites developed over time. That does not necessarily mean audiences should expect the familiar outlaw of Sherwood Forest, complete with the Merry Men, the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the traditional Robin Hood storyline.

Historically, the best-known Robin Hood legends are not direct accounts of the Peasants’ Revolt. The two traditions come from different historical and literary contexts. The movie therefore appears to be exploring how real popular resistance might contribute to the creation or evolution of a legendary folk hero.

Until the movie is released, the precise nature of that connection remains one of its biggest mysteries.

Release Date, Runtime, and Age Rating

The Uprising is scheduled to open in theaters on September 10, 2026. Its wide theatrical release is being handled by Focus Features.

The movie has a runtime of two hours and eight minutes, giving it enough space to develop its political background, principal characters, and major battle sequences. It has received an R rating for violence and bloody images, suggesting that the filmmakers are presenting the brutality of medieval conflict without softening it for younger audiences. These details are listed on the film’s current Rotten Tomatoes information page.

No streaming premiere has been officially announced. Viewers interested in watching the film at home will need to wait for Focus Features to confirm its digital rental, purchase, and subscription-streaming plans.

What Audiences Can Expect

The trailers and official promotional material suggest a serious, physically intense historical drama rather than a romantic medieval adventure. The movie appears likely to emphasize crowded battles, violent government retaliation, and the harsh conditions experienced by ordinary workers.

However, the most important part of The Uprising may be its human scale. The story begins with a man who has little political power. His transformation into a leader allows the audience to experience the rebellion from the ground rather than from inside the royal court.

Viewers can reasonably expect the following:

• Large-scale medieval action and battle sequences
• A personal story centered on grief and resistance
• Political conflict involving taxation, class, and government power
• A mixture of real historical figures and fictional characters
• A morally complicated confrontation between rebels and royal authorities
• Paul Greengrass’s fast, immersive filmmaking style

The R rating also indicates that the violence could be graphic. This is unlikely to be a light family adventure despite the Robin Hood references used in some promotional material.

Why The Uprising Could Stand Out

Historical movies often return to familiar kings, queens, military commanders, and aristocratic families. The Peasants’ Revolt provides a different perspective. It focuses attention on people who normally appear only in the background of medieval stories.

That perspective gives The Uprising contemporary relevance without requiring the movie to abandon its historical setting. Questions about taxation, workers’ rights, political representation, economic inequality, and distrust of government remain recognizable today.

The revolt also presents a compelling dramatic contradiction. Although the rebels did not achieve all their immediate objectives, their actions were not meaningless. They exposed the vulnerability of the ruling system and left a powerful example for later protest movements.

Andrew Garfield’s performance, Paul Greengrass’s direction, and the unusual historical subject give the film considerable potential. If it successfully balances accuracy, emotional storytelling, and large-scale action, The Uprising could introduce millions of viewers to a defining but often overlooked moment in English history.

More than a story about one battle, The Uprising is about the moment when people who have been ignored finally realize the strength of their collective voice.