Apple TV’s new biopic Tenzing wants to fix a wrong. For decades, the story of the 1953 ascent of Mount Everest treated Tenzing Norgay as a supporting player, a Sherpa who worked beside Edmund Hillary. Now director Jennifer Peedom’s film gives Norgay back his full story, his full humanity — husband, father, climber, dreamer — and it lands at TIFF as a reminder of what history had forgotten.
Three actors play Norgay across his life: Samdrup Dorje Lama as a child, Tenzin Dalha as a young man, and Genden Phuntsok as the climber who finally reaches the summit alongside Hillary. On paper, the tale is plain: a man dreams of Everest, climbs it six times without reaching the top, and on the seventh try, he gets there with a partner who understands what it means to be an outsider.
“It’s a simple moment, but Dalha makes every bit of that relief visible without overplaying it.”
Dalha’s Tears Carry the Early Story
Norgay’s wife, Dawa, is played by Thinley Lhamo, and it is she who receives the news midway through the film that her husband has at last been permitted to work as a Sherpa. The most moving scene belongs to Dalha, who plays Norgay in his early twenties, and it comes when he breaks down in her arms, crying tears that have accumulated over years of longing, rejection, and unyielding resolve.
The film opens quietly, and a single scene establishes its entire approach. Norgay never treats the mountain as an obstacle. He names it Chomolungma, the Tibetan name for Everest, and regards it as a holy sign rather than a goal to conquer. This respect runs through the whole picture, coloring every scene with affection.
Phuntsok and Hiddleston Build a Friendship Worth Watching
The movie’s center rests on Phuntsok and Tom Hiddleston. Before Colonel John Hunt, played by Willem Dafoe, brings Norgay in as head Sherpa for the British push at the mountain, Norgay has scaled Everest six times and never made it to the top. For this attempt, he requests to be regarded as part of the team rather than merely assisting them.
Hiddleston keeps Hillary grounded throughout, resisting any urge to overpower Phuntsok or turn his character into a familiar face from history books. Instead, their friendship builds gradually, scene by scene, through shared hardship and mutual respect, so that by the time they reach the summit, the bond between them feels like the natural endpoint of everything they built together rather than a rushed final act payoff.
John is warmer than expected, despite being firm and demanding. He avoids becoming a stiff British authority figure. His leadership shows real care for his team, much like a coach who knows when to push and when to trust those on the field.
The Mountain Itself Is a Character
The images of Mount Everest produced by Stefan Duscio’s cinematography appear at once lovely and genuinely terrifying. They reduce the climbers to small figures within vast tracts of snow and rock, which makes the mountain seem larger than any person upon it. The view is stunning throughout, yet it remains humbling to see the climbers vanish into such an immense setting.
At a length of 125 minutes, the film makes clear that scaling the summit is not simply a matter of strength or trust. Instead, it is a matter of accepting that the mountain stands above you, greater than any individual climber.
A Cast That Grounds the Story
The supporting cast fills out the world without overcrowding it. Lhamo gives Dawa a nice warmth that makes her relationship with Norgay grounded, while Caitríona Balfe brings a light touch to Jill Henderson, especially in the film’s funnier moments with the young adult Norgay. Dafoe’s John offers a lot more warmth than expected.
Working together, the cast turns Tenzing into a story about people rather than a mere polished history lesson.
Peedom’s Documentary Roots Show
Peedom’s documentary background shows in the film’s nonlinear structure. The story moves neatly between Norgay’s childhood, his formative years, and his later climbs, but it never turns into a lecture. It gives Norgay the space to be seen as who he fully was, and that balance is the film’s smartest choice.
This film is a correction, yet it never lectures. Instead, it offers a lived-in, humane portrayal of a man whose dream at last came true.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Young adult Norgay (early twenties) | Tenzin Dalha |
| Climber Norgay / summit partner | Genden Phuntsok |
| Hillary | Tom Hiddleston |
| Colonel John Hunt | Willem Dafoe |
Read the full TIFF review at collider.com.
See the video the story is built around at Collider.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.