The Uprising (2026) Story & Narrative

In the summer of 1381, England stands on the brink of complete social and economic collapse. In the generational wake of the Black Death, which eradicated nearly half the working population, the surviving peasantry and rural laborers face crushing state oppression, punitive wage caps, and predatory Poll Taxes enforced by the royal council of the young King Richard II. When corrupt tax commissioners and feudal bailiffs intensify their brutal collection efforts across Kent and Essex, a common ploughman (Andrew Garfield) is thrust from peaceful endurance into the epicenter of a historic insurrection. Joining forces with charismatic radical preacher John Ball (Jamie Bell) and tactical leader Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis), thousands of disenfranchised commoners assemble to march on London. Demanding the complete abolition of serfdom, equal justice before the law, and the removal of corrupt royal ministers including Archbishop Simon Sudbury (Stephen Dillane) and Treasurer Sir Robert Hales (Tom Hollander), the peasant army breaches the gates of the capital. What unfolds is a heart-stopping collision between the entrenched feudal aristocracy and the awakening power of ordinary people fighting for their fundamental human dignity. Directed with Paul Greengrass's signature visceral realism and documentary-like immediacy, The Uprising captures the raw human cost of medieval rebellion with unsparing authenticity and profound historical resonance.