Apple TV's New Adventure Thriller Breaks All-Time Rotten Tomatoes Audience Record

Published Oct 17, 2026, 9:39 AM EDT

Fariba Rezwan is a Lead Editor for the Movie News team. She has been with ScreenRant for nearly five years, with roles ranging from list editor to junior news editor. 

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Apple TV's new adventure thriller reaches record-breaking heights.

The streamer recently released a new biographical movie, Tenzing, starring Marvel Cinematic Universe's Tom Hiddleston, Genden Phuntsok, and Willem Dafoe. The story follows a daring 1953 expedition to summit Mount Everest, led by Sherpa Norgay and featuring British and New Zealand climbers. Over a month before its release, reviews for Tenzing were heavily positive, with a near-perfect 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. The score is one of the best for a movie focused on climbing Mount Everest and broke Hiddleston's all-time highest-rated record after 16 years.

After a strong premiere at Telluride and consistent reviews since, with just one negative, audiences are finally watching the biopic on streaming. With over 50 ratings, Tenzing has an equally solid 95% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of Apple TV's most favorable feature-length movies and one of the year's highly-rated projects. The adventure film also sets more records, including Hiddleston's highest-rated movie with viewers, a milestone previously set by Avengers: Infinity War (92%) and Dafoe's fifth-highest-rated project.

Tom Hiddleston's 5 Highest-Rated Movies	Rotten Tomatoes Critics' Score	Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
Tenzing (2026)	98%	95%
Archipelago (2010)	96%	60%
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)	93%	87%
Midnight in Paris (2011)	93%	83%
Marvel's The Avengers (2012)	91%	91%

Tenzing's inspirational true story clearly drives its overwhelmingly positive reception. While many mountain-climber films focus on the clients, the Apple TV adventure movie shifts the focus to the titular Sherpa mountaineers, who risk their lives to guide them under extreme conditions.

From Tenzing's perspective, the movie explores the socio-political hurdles he faced, while emphasizing his spiritual connection to climbing Mount Everest, which uplifts the story. Much of that is driven by Phuntsok's motivated yet emotional performance, along with balanced chemistry with the supporting cast, especially Hiddleston's quieter role as Sir Edmund Hillary.

Rearrange the movies into the correct US release order.

Furthermore, Tenzing's near-perfection and genuineness also reflect director Jennifer Peedom's resume. While the Apple TV biopic was her first narrative feature, she has a history of making documentaries, particularly those related to mountain climbing. Documentaries like 2015's Sherpa and 2017's Mountain earned critical acclaim, proving her ability to showcase the daring beauty of these adventures. Critics also praised Tenzing for capturing Mount Everest's stunning yet visceral visuals.

Because of the positive reviews, Tenzing drew audiences to streaming as soon as it became available. After just one day of release, the biopic has already jumped Apple TV's charts to No. 4 in the United States, behind Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, and Dark Matter, and to No. 1 movie globally. As a result, word-of-mouth is expected to drive more viewers to see the movie, especially months before Hiddleston reprises Loki in the highly anticipated Avengers: Doomsday.

Caitríona Balfe, Thinley Lhamo, Tenzin Dalha, Tenzin Jigmey, and Samdrup Dorje Lama round out the supporting cast. Dafoe and Peedom reunite after the former previously narrated Mountain. Luke Davies penned the story. Norgay's son, Norbu Tenzing, is executive producing alongside Simon Gillis and David Michôd.

Tenzing is now streaming on Apple TV.