Tenzing Review: Peedom's Soulful Tribute to Norgay

The film opens in the shadow of Everest, where a young Tenzing (Tenzing Dalha) grows up hauling loads for expeditions, mocked for his ambition and told the mountain is no place for his kind. Years later, Genden Phuntsok takes over as the older Tenzing, a seasoned sirdar whose repeated attempts on the summit have ended in failure and near-death. When Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe) assembles the 1953 British expedition, Tenzing sees his last real chance - and finds an unexpected ally in a lanky New Zealander named Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston).

The film is really two stories stitched together: the climb, and the life that made the climb possible. The mountain sections are tense and tactile, full of creaking ice and rasping breath. The domestic sections, featuring Caitríona Balfe as Jill Henderson, the expedition's fictionalized chronicler and conscience, add warmth but sometimes feel like ballast. The result is uneven, yet the two halves ultimately justify each other - you can't understand the summit without the years of being told you don't belong there.

In a career full of documentaries, Peedom has always been best at scale. Here she scales impeccably: ice faces at dawn, a storm rolling in like a wall, the smallness of men against a very large mountain. There's a patience to the climbing sequences that most studio productions would never allow, and it pays off in a final push that is genuinely stirring without a single overwrought slow-motion shot.

The performances are the real find. Phuntsok, largely unknown to Western audiences, carries the film with a quiet, steady dignity that never tips into sainthood. His Tenzing is proud, tired, funny when he wants to be, and quietly furious at the ledgers of history that have erased his role. Hiddleston does a solid job as Hillary - affable, competitive, and the film's most graceful acknowledgment that the summit was a partnership, not a solo act. Dafoe's Hunt is a lovely piece of casting, all clipped authority and grudging respect. Balfe, however, is given a thin role that the screenplay never fully fleshes out; her Jill is more plot device than person.

Where the film falters is in its pacing. At 126 minutes, it takes its time, and some of the expedition logistics drag. The screenplay - working from a well-worn inspirational template - sometimes tells us what Tenzing is feeling rather than letting Phuntsok's face say it. And for a story about a Sherpa, it's odd that the narrative still orbits so persistently around the white expedition leaders; the film's biggest missed opportunity is not spending more time with Dawa Norgay (Thinley Lhamo), whose presence anchors the emotional stakes but whose screen time feels abbreviated.

Still, when the film works, it really works: a wordless scene in which Tenzing stands alone in the snow before the final push is worth more than any speech. It has the texture of a documentary and the heart of a proper drama.

Pros:

• Genden Phuntsok's quietly commanding lead performance
• Jennifer Peedom's breathtaking, tactile mountaineering photography
• A dignified, overdue tribute to a historical figure too long sidelined
• Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe bring genuine gravitas to supporting roles

Cons:

• Uneven pacing, with a saggy midsection of expedition logistics
• The script occasionally overexplains rather than trusting its actors
• Caitríona Balfe's character feels underwritten
• Doesn't spend enough time with its most interesting supporting figures

"Tenzing" isn't the definitive film about the man - it's too conventional for that - but it's a sincere, gorgeous, and often moving one. Peedom's visual instincts and Phuntsok's performance make it a journey worth taking, even if the script leaves you wishing it had climbed a little higher. A solid, three-and-a-half-star evening? Not quite - call it a confident 7/10, matching its TMDb score almost exactly. Stream it, and bring tissues for the third act.