‘The Uprising’ Earns Modest Cinemascore as Andrew Garfield’s Historical Epic Divides Critics

Andrew Garfield has spent the past few years carving out a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most reliably intense dramatic performers, gravitating toward roles that demand genuine physical and emotional commitment. Pairing him with Paul Greengrass, a director known for his visceral, documentary-inspired approach to historical drama, seemed like a natural match on paper heading into this fall’s theatrical slate.

That collaboration has finally arrived in the form of ‘The Uprising,’ a gritty period drama chronicling England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, an event historians credit with helping inspire the enduring legend of Robin Hood. Blumhouse and Focus Features positioned the film as a prestige awards-season entry, banking on Garfield’s star power and Greengrass’s signature style to carry it through a crowded fall movie season.

Now that audiences have had their first weekend with the film, the verdict is officially in. ‘The Uprising’ received a B- grade from opening-weekend audiences on CinemaScore, a middling result that suggests the film’s grim, unflinching tone hasn’t fully connected with mainstream moviegoers.

That CinemaScore lands alongside a similarly mixed critical reception. The film currently sits at 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, placing it only narrowly above Greengrass’s 2016 film ‘Jason Bourne,’ which holds a 55 percent score and has long been considered one of the director’s weaker critical showings compared to acclaimed work like ‘Captain Phillips’ and ‘The Bourne Ultimatum.’

‘The Uprising’ follows Ploughman, played by Garfield, a grieving farmer who lost his family to the plague and becomes a reluctant leader of a peasant rebellion against a fresh round of oppressive taxation under King Richard II. The ensemble cast includes Jamie Bell, Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Cosmo Jarvis, Thomasin McKenzie, Jonny Lee Miller, and Katherine Waterston, rounding out a sprawling look at medieval class conflict.

Greengrass, who both wrote and directed the film, has been fairly open about wanting the story’s themes of economic inequality to resonate with contemporary audiences. During the film’s press tour, Garfield made that connection explicit, expressing hope that any billionaires watching the film come away genuinely shaken, in comments reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

That deliberate modern parallel has proven to be one of the more divisive elements among critics. Some reviewers praised the film’s handheld, verité-style battle sequences for capturing the chaos and brutality of medieval combat with real immediacy, while others argued the movie’s attempts to draw a straight line between fourteenth-century peasants and today’s economic frustrations felt heavy-handed rather than organic.

Several reviews singled out Greengrass’s signature shaky-cam aesthetic as a mixed bag depending on the scene. While the technique reportedly heightens tension during large-scale battle sequences, multiple critics noted it becomes distracting during quieter, character-focused moments, occasionally pulling viewers out of the story’s otherwise immersive medieval setting.

Garfield’s performance itself has drawn less criticism than the film’s broader structure and pacing, with several reviewers noting that Ploughman fits neatly into the lineage of soulful, spiritually searching characters Garfield has gravitated toward throughout his career. Still, the film’s punishing tone and lengthy runtime appear to have tested some viewers’ patience, a pattern the middling CinemaScore grade seems to reflect.

With a 56 percent critical score and a B- audience grade, ‘The Uprising’ finds itself in a somewhat precarious middle ground, neither a critical triumph nor an outright audience disappointment. Whether the film’s ambitious blend of historical drama and modern political commentary translates into a solid theatrical run over the following weeks will likely depend on how strongly its themes resonate with audiences beyond opening weekend.

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