‘Tenzing’ Trailer: Tom Hiddleston, WIllem Dafoe, Genden Phuntsok, Class, Ambition & The Battle To Conquer Mount Everest

“We’ve been trying to climb this mountain for 30 years,” an army colonel tells the assembled group. “Britain is depending on us to get up first.”

The mountain is Mount Everest, the world’s tallest. The officer is John Hunt (Willem Dafoe), who would lead the first successful mission to ascend it. Among the group is New Zealander Edmund Hillary (Tom Hiddleston), who would become one of climbers credited with reaching its summit first. The film is Tenzing, whose first trailer can be viewed above.

The other mountaineer credited with being the first reached the fabled Everest’s peak in 1953 is Tenzing Noirgay (Genden Phuntsok), the gifted Sherpa who “knows the mountain better than anyone” and “never stopped thinking about it,” even as a boy. He, Hillary and Hunt were among the British expeditioners who’d attempted to scale the Himalayan peak since the 1930s, and the movie chronicles their harrowing success two decades later.

Per the thriller’s logline, Tenzing, encouraged by his wife Dawa (Thinley Lhamo), finds an ally in expedition secretary Jill Henderson (Caitríona Balfe). Together, they convince Hunt that the Sherpa belongs on the British climbing team, rather than merely serving it. Where Western climbers see “Everest” as something to be conquered, Tenzing reveres “Chomolungma” as the sacred mother goddess. Their ensuing ascent is defined as much by the tensions between backgrounds, classes and competing ambitions as by the perils of the mountain itself. But high above the world, empire, rank and aspiration fall away, leaving two outsiders bound by mutual respect and trust — and for Tenzing, the fulfillment of both a lifelong dream and a spiritual calling.

RELATED: Telluride Film Festival 2026: Read All Of Deadline’s Reviews

The pic hails from Australian director Jennifer Peedom, who also also helmed the BAFTA-nominated 2015 documentary Sherpa. The year before, she had been working on a doc about the Sherpas of Mount Everest when a massive avalanche hit the mountain and killed 16 of the Tibetan mountain guides.

Tenzing premiered at the Telluride Film Festival this month, is screening at Toronto and will open the Zurixch Film Festival on September 24. The pic hits theaters on October 9 and will start streaming on Apple TV a week later. Here is the film’s poster:

RELATED: Toronto Film Festival 2026: Read All Of Deadline’s Reviews