Rise or die.
That’s the brutal choice at the heart of The Uprising, the gripping new historical epic from Focus Features. The official trailer has arrived, and it delivers a raw, urgent vision of rebellion, injustice, and the moment ordinary people decide they’ve had enough.
A Farmer Becomes a Revolutionary
Andrew Garfield stars as the legendary leader of a ferocious rebellion against the tyranny of King Richard II. He is no soldier. He is no priest. He is simply a farmer—until the weight of oppression becomes unbearable.
The land is broken. The people are forced to work beyond what their souls can take. Taxes are demanded without mercy. When a young woman comes of age, she too must pay. The message from the crown is clear: obey, work harder, and keep giving.
Then comes the breaking point.
“THAT’S ENOUGH! ENOUGH! WE’VE GIVEN YOU ENOUGH!”
What follows is a cry that echoes across England: it is time to set the world on fire.
The Great Rising Ignites
As war burns across the country, rebel armies converge on London—10,000 strong, maybe more. At their head is a plowman. The question on every noble’s lips is the same: Who leads them?
The answer is both simple and terrifying. A man of the people, rising from the dirt to challenge a king.
The trailer captures the stakes with stark clarity. Drawing blood will open the gates of hell. Heresy, chaos, and fear will follow. Yet for those who have lost everything, surrender is no longer an option. God has taken much from them, the film suggests, to reveal a harder truth: only by rising can they be free.
“For all that you’ve taken from us… all that we’ve lost… time to pay.”
Why This Story Resonates Now
The Uprising is rooted in the real events of the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt (also known as the Great Rising), one of the most dramatic popular uprisings in English history. What makes the film feel urgent is how closely its themes of exploitation, taxation, and the limits of endurance mirror modern frustrations. Many early viewers have already noted the timely resonance.
Andrew Garfield, long praised for his ability to portray earnest, wounded underdogs, looks perfectly cast as a reluctant revolutionary driven to the edge. Covered in dirt and blood, he channels the kind of grounded intensity that made performances in Hacksaw Ridge and Tick, Tick… Boom! so memorable. Supporting players and the muddy, visceral aesthetic suggest a film that prioritizes grit and emotional force over glossy pageantry.
A Call to the Battlefield
Directed with the kind of kinetic energy that turns historical drama into something visceral, The Uprising promises more than swords and speeches. It asks a timeless question: When the powerful take everything, what remains for the powerless except to fight?
The film arrives in theaters on September 11, 2026.
For audiences hungry for original stories, strong performances, and a medieval epic that feels startlingly relevant, The Uprising looks ready to deliver. Rise or die. The choice, as the trailer makes clear, has already been made.
