The ‘Elsinore’ Trailer Puts Andrew Scott Center Stage in an Awards-Season Hamlet Story

Few roles in theater carry the weight of Hamlet, and few actors know it as well as Andrew Scott. He has played the character more than any other in his career, and he once performed a version of the play running 3 hours and 50 minutes 8 times a week. His new drama ‘Elsinore‘ now asks him to play a very different kind of Hamlet story.

The film is based on the life of Scottish actor Ian Charleson, best known for ‘Chariots of Fire’. In 1989, Charleson had the chance of a lifetime to replace Daniel Day-Lewis as Hamlet at London’s National Theatre after Day-Lewis walked offstage mid-performance and never came back. He took the part while succumbing to complications from AIDS.

Now audiences are getting their first proper look. Focus Features released the first ‘Elsinore’ trailer on Monday, a 2:29 teaser that opens on Scott gazing upward inside a dimly lit theater, with rows of red seats fading into shadow behind him. The film arrives in theaters on Nov. 20.

The footage leans into the collision of art and mortality. The official synopsis describes the film as the deeply emotional and inspirational true story of a gifted actor whose greatest challenge becomes his greatest triumph. It says Charleson faces his own mortality with unflinching honesty, wit and grace.

Olivia Colman stars opposite Scott as Margaret Johnson, one of the UK’s first doctors to specialize in AIDS. Billie Piper plays casting director Patsy Pollock, who sees Charleson through his final days, and Johnny Flynn plays the show’s director.

The wider cast includes Luke Thompson, David Dawson, Matthew Beard, Joe Locke, Monica Dolan, Georgie Glen, Sadie Soverall, Adeel Akhtar, Dickie Beau, Kadiff Kirwan, Juliet Stevenson and Peter Mullan. Scott is also a producer on the film.

The fight of his life. The triumph of a lifetime.

Andrew Scott stars in ELSINORE, "a jaw-dropping cinematic achievement." Watch the trailer now. Only in theaters November. pic.twitter.com/Lm4iTjUxHn

— Elsinore (@elsinoremovie) September 28, 2026

Simon Stone, known for ‘The Dig’, directs from a script by Stephen Beresford of ‘Pride’. Stone has described the film as specially made as an advocate for the theater-going experience, noting that the movie was finished only days before its Telluride premiere. Focus happened to have an open slot in its fall schedule.

The film clocks in at 111 minutes. It uses rehearsal and medical-treatment montages, built by editor Valerio Bonelli, to build toward Charleson’s final performances.

‘Elsinore’ premiered at Telluride on Sept. 4 before heading to the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the International People’s Choice Award. It currently sits at roughly 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and 75 on Metacritic.

Scott’s performance has been the main talking point. Variety’s Clayton Davis called it the role of Scott’s career, and said it pushes him toward the front of a Best Actor conversation he has been circling for years. Variety’s Owen Gleiberman also praised the actor’s layered, moving performance.

The reception hasn’t been unanimous. Some critics who admired Scott felt the film around him did not match his work, and a few called out the editing and reliance on montage. One review argued that the construction makes it difficult to judge how good the performance really is.

That split may make ‘Elsinore’ one of the more interesting awards-season debates this fall. Even skeptics tend to agree that Scott is doing extraordinary work, while defenders point to the film’s warmth, humor and its portrayal of queer men who were not defined solely as victims.

Focus Features will open ‘Elsinore’ in select theaters on Nov. 20, with the release expanding over Thanksgiving and throughout December. StudioCanal will release the film in UK cinemas on Jan. 29, 2027.

For Scott, the timing is fitting. After years of acclaimed stage and screen work, this looks like the showcase role his admirers have been waiting for.

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