Sometimes when watching a film about an historical incident it requires a bit of digging beneath the surface level of the events being depicted to see parallels to contemporary times. Such is not the case with THE UPRISING (2026). The events of the 1381 Peasant’s Revolt are a very clear parallel to the current day inequality that is forcing more and more financially destitute people to realize that direct action is necessary to see improvement in their lives. When the English peasants cannot produce enough to both feed themselves and pay the onerous taxes levied by the government they have no other option – they take up arms and appeal to the King for redress of grievances. The film shows the audience that the ruling class is doing a terrible job of intelligently using the country’s wealth and can only conceive of one choice when new revenue is needed – squeeze the poor. In 2026, watching the top 1% pay mostly zero dollars in taxes while the government burns money on yet another useless war gives me a frightening sense of history repeating itself.
As depicted, the differences in attitudes from 1381 farmers and 21st century workers are mostly rooted in the 14th century English population’s belief in the divine right of kings instead of representative democracy. Watching these sad people fight for some relief and respect from their government is both uplifting and depressing in equal measure. It’s easy to sympathize with oppressed people in general and the film gives us a perfect ‘everyman’ in the form of Andrew Garfield’s Ploughman character. He has lost his entire family to disease and can no longer carve even a basic subsistence existence out of his plot of land. He joins a growing group of other angry and disillusioned people fighting against the tax collectors and together they formulate a plan to take their complaints to the King. They think that surely the monarch placed above them by God himself will understand their plight and set things right. But can an overprivileged, coddled manchild born into wealth act in a way that will benefit those he has been taught to see as servants at best and leaches at worst?
Writer/director Paul Greengrass employs his usual style of ground level hand-held camera work here to great effect. It serves to place us inside the events as they transpire as if we were standing in the mud next to the starving peasants trying to find a way out of their impossible living conditions. The actions we witness feel visceral and real with little attempt to present a glossy, high-minded sheen to the goals of the desperate characters the story follows. These folks are on the verge of extinction and without a change in circumstances their government is going to destroy the engine that fuels the country. This is so self-evident to the peasants that surely if the King is made aware of the reality of his minion’s activities, he will correct these depredations. The feeling of being alongside the rebels marching on the King’s home adds to the tension and also makes it clear that we are to understand our modern financial situation as being much the same as these desperate souls.
If you know the history of this period of English monarchy the outcome of this tale will not surprise you, but it is instructive to see ourselves and our contemporary plight as painfully similar to the events in 1381. THE UPRISING is a warning and a call to learn from history rather than repeat its mistakes. Our only solace is that we still have a small chance of replacing the people at the top of our governmental hierarchy with individuals from our own ranks. At least until we’re told that royal decrees are the law of the land and that kings have returned to supplant the will of the people, elections be damned. I prefer a plate of well-seasoned ruling class, myself.
The List
DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS (1990) – 7 (Stuart Gordon TV movie)
THE WIFE KILLER (1974) – 7 (Greek thriller)
THE FIGHTING PRINCE OF DONEAL (1966) – 6 (Disney historical adventure)
GEORGE A. ROMERO’S RESIDENT EVIL (2025) – 7 (documentary about the failed production)
DARK HARVEST (1992) – 4 (terrible SOV horror attempt)
BLOODMOON (1990) – 4 (weak Australian slasher)
THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS (1946) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD (1952) – 4 (weak A&C entry)
PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 (1933) – 6 (solid drama w/William Powell)
THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 (2025) – 6 (not bad but not great)
ASSIGNMENT SKYBOLT (1968) – 4 (overlong and sloppy Greek made Euro-Spy)
THE FLESH EATERS (1967) – 6 (well-done, low-budget gore film)
BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES (1970) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
ONSLAUGHT (2026) – 6 (sadly, a great build up seems to stall in the third act)
WAR MACHINE (2026) – 8 (excellent army vs alien invaders story)
SINNER: PRIVATE DIARY OF A NYPHOMANIAC (1973) – 6 (fairly standard Franco fare)
COYOTE VS ACME (2026) – 5 (fitfully funny but it lacks a real spark)
THE AMBULANCE (1990) – 7 (rewatch)
THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (1967) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
HOPE (2026) – 8 (South Korean sci-fi action/monster movie)
THE GUILTY (2021) – 7 (engrossing nearly one character thriller)
SUPERNATURAL (1981) – 7 (Spanish horror)
MEMORIA (1976) – 5 (Spanish sci-fi/horror)
THE UPRISING (2026) – 9
BONE LAKE (2024) – 6 (isolated couple stalked by killers)
ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976) – 9 (rewatch on Blu)
HOUSE OF HORROR (1946) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)
VOICES FROM BEYOND (1991) – 6 (one of Fulci’s last)
INFINITY BUFFET (2025) – 6 (amusing horror/comedy told mostly through local TV commercials)
THE WEIGHT (2026) – 8
GESTOPO’S LAST ORGY (1977) – 4 (low-budget, sloppy grind of nastiness)
NOSFERATU IN VENICE (1988) – 5 (rewatch on Blu)
WHO KILLED DOC ROBBIN (1948) – 4 (murder/comedy with too much Our Gang-style silliness)
EXIT 8 (2025) – 8 (excellent Japanese horror tale based on a game)
RESIDENT EVIL (2026) – 7 (it become less compelling in the final minutes but entertaining)
WINNETOU AND OLD SHATTERHAND IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH (1968) – 7
THE HOST (2006) – 7 (South Korean monster tale)
HAUNTED TALES (1980) – 6 (two horror tales in one Shaw Bros anthology)
THE LAST SHARK (1981) – 4 (embarrassing shark attack film)
DEADLY LOVE (1987) – 4 (low budget horror effort that is mostly embarrassing)
BULLITT (1968) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
BUDDY (2026) – 7
SWORD OF THE BARBARIANS (Sangaal, the Sword of Fire) (1982) – 3 (poorly mounted Italian peplum)
THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (1971) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)
ENTER THE DEVIL (1972) – 6 (well done low budget regional filmmaking)
DEEP BLOOD (1990) – 3 (silly Italian Jaws rip-off a decade out of time)
THE FACE WITH TWO LEFT FEET (1979) – 5 (silly but inoffensive Italian comedy)
TRICK ‘R TREAT (2009) – 9 (rewatch on Blu)
