Tom Hiddleston Just Traded Loki for Everest, and Critics Say It Is the Most Inspiring Film of the Year

For more than a decade, Tom Hiddleston has been the God of Mischief. Now he is trading Asgard for something colder, higher, and arguably more dangerous: the summit of Mount Everest.

The Night Manager and Avengers star takes on legendary New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary in Tenzing, Apple’s new historical epic that arrives on Apple TV this Friday, October 16. And if the early verdicts are anything to go by, Hiddleston might have just found the most important role of his career. The film sits at 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling it the most inspiring film of the year.

The Man History Almost Forgot

On May 29, 1953, two men stood on top of the world for the first time in recorded history. One was Edmund Hillary. The other was Tenzing Norgay, a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa climber whose name has faded over the decades while Hillary’s became legend. Tenzing the film is determined to fix that.

Directed by Jennifer Peedom, the Australian documentary filmmaker behind Sherpa and Mountain, this is her first narrative feature, and it tells the Everest story from Norgay’s point of view, the perspective that tends to get the least screen time. Newcomer Genden Phuntsok plays Tenzing as a gifted Himalayan climber whose path onto the British expedition was anything but straightforward. Encouraged by his wife Dawa, played by Thinley Lhamo, Tenzing finds an ally in expedition secretary Jill Henderson, played by Caitriona Balfe. Together they persuade expedition commander Colonel John Hunt, played by Willem Dafoe, that Tenzing belongs on the climbing team rather than merely serving it.

It is a story about class, background, and who gets to be called a hero. Where the Western climbers see Everest as something to be conquered, Tenzing reveres it as Chomolungma, the sacred mother goddess. That tension sits at the heart of the film.

A Long Road to the Summit

Getting Tenzing made was its own expedition. The project began life at Netflix and Higher Ground Productions, but Apple TV+ swept in and won the worldwide rights in a competitive bidding war at the Marche du Film in May 2024. Hiddleston was cast as Hillary that same month, with Dafoe joining him. Balfe signed on in May 2025, and Phuntsok was announced as Tenzing Norgay in June 2025.

Principal photography began in Nepal in May 2025, with the crew shooting on location in Kathmandu and the Everest region before wrapping in New Zealand that August. Post-production was handled in Australia. The film had its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on September 4, 2026, then screened at Toronto and opened the 22nd Zurich Film Festival in late September. Apple threw a New York premiere on October 7 at the Directors Guild of America Theater, where Hiddleston, Dafoe, Phuntsok, and Peedom all walked the carpet ahead of the limited theatrical release on October 9.

From Loki to the Himalayas

For Hiddleston, Tenzing arrives at a fascinating moment. He is simultaneously preparing to return as Loki in Avengers: Doomsday later this year, which makes this quiet, grounded performance all the more striking. In a recent interview, he spoke about the weight of portraying Hillary, a man whose legacy is defined not by ego but by humility and by his partnership with Norgay.

Hillary was not a larger-than-life hero in Hiddleston’s telling. He was sincere, earnest, and ordinary in the best sense, a man who achieved something extraordinary precisely because he understood he could not do it alone. That emphasis on partnership is what elevates the film above a standard biopic. The two outsiders, the Sherpa climber and the New Zealander who both ranked below the British establishment on the pecking order, become bound by mutual respect and trust.

There is even a charming footnote from the shoot: Hiddleston discovered that Nepalese monks in the Himalayas are fans of the God of Mischief. Loki, it turns out, has fans at 17,000 feet too.

What the Critics Are Saying

The reviews are genuinely enthusiastic. Rotten Tomatoes shows a 96 percent approval rating across nearly 30 reviews with an average score of 7.1 out of 10, while Metacritic has it at 67, indicating generally favorable reviews. One reviewer gave it a perfect four out of four stars and called it the most inspiring film of the year, a tribute to a man who refused to give up until he reached the summit and finally received the recognition he deserved. Another scored it a rare 10 out of 10, calling it a Mount Everest sized achievement.

Critics agree that the film is at its best when it locks in as an adventure story between the two climbers. The summit sequence is described as suspenseful and tactile, every step feeling like a tango with death, from the crushing ice to the blistering winds.

The Man Behind the Name

Perhaps the most meaningful endorsement comes from Tenzing Norgay’s own family. His eldest son Norbu Tenzing serves as an executive producer, and he has said the film finally reveals the man behind the mask. His point lands hard: Tenzing Norgay put the word Sherpa into the English dictionary and gave it the currency it holds today, yet most people outside mountaineering circles could not tell you his story.

That is the gap this film exists to close. And with a 96 percent score, a stacked cast, and Hiddleston at the height of his powers, Apple may have one of the year’s most quietly powerful releases on its hands.

Further Reading

• The first trailer: Genden Phuntsok and Tom Hiddleston go the distance in the official Tenzing trailer (AV Club)
• Nicolas Cage refused an AI waiver at NYCC and dropped a True Detective bombshell
• Scarlett Johansson entered the scariest franchise in horror history with The Exorcist: Martyrs trailer
• Jessica Chastain opened a movie at No. 1 that audiences gave the worst grade in two years
• Tenzing: full credits and release details on Wikipedia

Tenzing is in select theaters now and streams globally on Apple TV starting October 16. Sources: Apple Original Films press release, Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia, Men’s Journal, Hollywood Reporter India, AV Club.