Elsinore (2026)- BFI London Film Festival 2026

Review

111min

Genre:       Biography, Drama

Director:    Simon Stone

Cast:         Andrew Scott, Billie Piper, Olivia Colman…and more

Writers:     Stephen Beresford and Ethan Silverman

-Synopsis-

Shadowed by past screen success and his own mortality while struggling to fulfill his thespian ambitions, British actor Ian Charleson unexpectedly gets a shot at the role of a lifetime, battling against the major physical and psychological toll of his AIDS diagnosis whilst preparing to take the lead of a 1989 run of ‘Hamlet’ at London’s iconic National Theatre, a performance which would turn out to be his last and become the stuff of stage legend as he pours his angst and all that remains of him into the role which somberly reflects his own haunted existence.

After spending nearly two decades garnering international acclaim for his bold modernist adaptations of classic plays and transitioning from stage to screen, well-travelled Swiss-Australian actor turned writer/director Simon Stone joins forces with screenwriter and LGBTQ+ advocate Stephen Beresford (Pride, The Choral) and star/producer Andrew Scott to adapt writer/producer Ethan Silverman’s original idea, bringing an extraordinary and poignant real human story to life while weaving together a soulful tribute to the spirit of the theatre and a powerful portrait of an actor in crisis.

Scott himself stars as Scottish stage and screen star Charleson, struggling to break free of his ‘Chariots of Fire’ fame and looking for a fulfilling role when the chance of a lifetime appears after Daniel Day-Lewis quits as the lead in a run of ‘Hamlet’ at the Royal National Theatre, and director Richard Eyre (Johnny Flynn) offers him the part, only for his dream and life to be turned upside down when his manageable HIV escalates to full blown AIDS. Leaving him in a physical and existential crisis as his determination to spend his numbered days prepping a definitive performance confounds his doctor Margaret Johnson (Olivia Colman), and leaves him leaning on the support of friends like colourful casting director Patsy Pollock (Billie Piper), former lover and fellow afflicted Georgie (Luke Thompson), and his first director Derek Jarman (David Dawson), as he digs deep to get to opening night and leave behind a new legacy.

With its title taken from the English name for Helsingør—a Danish coastal castle town and royal court where William Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ is set—‘Elsinore’ is a well-crafted and faithful cinematic snapshot of late 1980s London and its overlapping theatre and gay scenes, serving as a heartfelt and melancholy tribute to the art of performance and the actors who do it. Not so much in the director’s medium of film, which Stone amusingly mocks whilst simultaneously eulogising his beloved theatre, particularly the brutalist British stage mecca of the National Theatre where crucial parts of the narrative take place and where key elements of the film were shot, as well as alternate theatre interiors in the West End, all stylishly captured by veteran British cinematographer Mike Eley (Touching the Void, The Dig).

In this cultural potpourri and artistic cauldron we find Charleson, a closeted gay man and public figure forced to hide his true self to survive and thrive, to fit within the system of a less understanding time and have a real shot at his dreams and ambitions during the paranoia of the AIDS epidemic, a constant inner struggle but also an outward one depicted in his arguments and debates with his ex-lover and first feature director Derek Jarman as played by David Dawson—a rare openly gay and HIV infected filmmaker at the time—making ‘Elsinore’ a nuanced character study of identity and a measured meditation on being in the closet as well.

He soon finds that this solitary struggle need not be a fight that’s taken on alone and leans on the support of eclectic figures skilfully brought to the screen, like the caring but no nonsense doctor Johnson, a real life British pioneer in HIV care brought to life by the heartfelt talents of Olivia Colman, plus Charleson’s inner circle led by Billie Piper playing his colourful and fiercely supportive casting agent friend Patsy, and loyal close friend/minder Sean soulfully played by Matthew Beard. Then there’s the close-knit theatre circle and his ‘Hamlet’ family led by the always reliably good Johnny Flynn as the acclaimed director Richard Eyre who gave Charleson his final shot at the holy grail of male English language theatre roles, and his supportive cast and crewmates played by the likes of Juliet Stevenson, Monica Dolan and Paul Chahidi.

Ultimately though this is the Andrew Scott show and the Irish star delivers a career defining tour-de-force full of restrained pathos and pain that come out at the right times, mastering but also nurturing a complex and nuanced role. Not only does Scott have the daunting task of doing justice to a real fellow thespian and believably bring his physical suffering and existential crisis to life on screen, but also tell the tale of an actor toiling with the professional role of a lifetime and the roles he plays in his personal life—all whilst also having to grapple with performing Shakespeare in his own right.

The result of his and everyone’s efforts in ‘Elsinore’ is one of the most grounded and heartfelt depictions of someone suffering with AIDS we’ve seen—and during the height of the epidemic no less—as well as a poignant and powerful portrait of someone facing imminent mortality, doing so with nobility and passion whilst chasing a dream with a determination that his destiny would not come a-calling too late.

The Bottom Line…

A soulful 1980s tribute to the spirit of the theatre and a powerful biographical AIDS portrait of an actor in crisis, with ‘Elsinore’ director Simon Stone underlines his glowing stage reputation whilst bolstering his growing screen chops, relying on a towering performance from his star to pay a fitting tribute to the memory of Ian Charleson and deliver a poignant and moving cinematic LGBTQ+ snapshot of suffering with dignity and artistic determination.

‘Elsinore’ is out on the 20th of November in selected US cinemas, and on the 27th of January 2027 in the UK.

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