By Erin Free
Worth: $18.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Genden Phuntsok, Tom Hiddleston, Willem Dafoe, Tenzin Dalha
Intro:
Thoughtful, meditative, thrilling and beautifully made, Tenzing is truly a film to savour.
With docos like Solo (2008), River (2021) and Deeper (2025), Australian filmmaker Jennifer Peedom proved herself an unconventional poet of the form, crafting highly evocative films that ran high on mood, feel and visual artistry. Her fascination with the natural world is obvious, and with Sherpa (2015), Miracle On Everest (2008) and Mountain (2025), Peedom focused that interest on the subject of mountaineering to truly compelling effect. It’s fitting that Peedom has chosen as her first feature film Tenzing, which tells one of the great stories of mountaineering, and its metaphorical summit of Mount Everest.
Based on the non-fiction book by Ed Douglas and penned with grace, feeling and keen intelligence by celebrated Aussie scribe Luke Davies (Candy, Lion, Life), Tenzing is the story of the late Tenzing Norgay, the Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who joined the considerably more well documented New Zealand adventurer Sir Edmund Hillary to become the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.
Played with warmth, blazing charisma and an almost glowing sense of soulfulness by Genden Phuntsok, we journey with Tenzing, Hillary (a dreamy, positive but earthy figure, as effectively played by a very engaging Tom Hiddleston) and a disparate crew of mountaineers (led by Willem Dafoe’s determined but slightly befuddled John Hunt) up Mount Everest, with all of the due danger and resilience that entails. This strong, distinct throughline is then dotted with flashbacks to Tenzing’s earlier life, with the aspiring mountaineer brilliantly played by Tenzin Dalha.
Though Tenzing ticks all of the biopic boxes that audiences expect with this kind of film, it’s somehow a beautifully simple but also deeply complex film. Considering her previously showcased in-the-wild prowess, it’s no surprise that Jennifer Peedom delivers a feature film so stunningly steeped in the wonders of the natural world, but it’s her affinity for her characters that really impresses. Tenzing Norgay’s approach to mountaineering and Mount Everest itself is deeply, profoundly spiritual, and the film captures that beautifully. Hillary’s approach, meanwhile, is also far from that of the typical macho adventurer’s stance – “It makes me happy,” Hillary says plaintively of mountaineering in one of the film’s most affecting scenes.
Almost a high-altitude take on the buddy flick, Tenzing really soars when it comes to the depiction of the relationship that grows between Tenzing and Hillary, who are depicted as wondrously free-thinking outsiders, both existing on the fringes of the stuffy, tradition-driven, British-dominated world of mountaineering. Though the lack of recognition afforded to Tenzing and native sherpas in general is now thankfully well-documented, the snobbery experienced by Hillary for being a New Zealander among Brits comes as much more of a surprise.
When these two disparate figures – both good, decent men driven by a sense of wonder rather than a need to conquer nature – begin their glorious ascent to Mount Everest, your heart will literally sing. It’s a moment vividly captured, but with a real sense of restraint…there’s no jingoism or posturing here – Tenzing is a film about connecting with nature, and not enforcing your will upon it. Thoughtful, meditative, thrilling and beautifully made, Tenzing is truly a film to savour.
