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‘The Uprising’: Deplorables, “No Kings” … and Robin Hood

‘The Uprising’: Deplorables, “No Kings” … and Robin Hood

Last updated on: September 10, 2026 at 11:29 pm by Kate O'Hare

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‘The Uprising’: Deplorables, “No Kings” … and Robin Hood 2026-09-10T23:29:57-08:00 Kate O'Hare

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The Uprising, currently in theaters, finds all kinds of ways to impose the present on the past — in this case, the Peasant Revolt of 1381 in England.

As happens whenever this is done, the past loses.

I know the present. I live in it. I don’t need a version of it with peasants and kings and swords. Instead, I’d prefer a film that took me into an unfamiliar world, challenging me to understand it on its own terms, not through the lens of today’s headlines and sociopolitical attitudes.

Writer/director Paul Greengrass does get style points, though, for managing to have peasant rebels called “deplorables” while also having one utter that famous phrase “no kings.”

What Is The Uprising About?

Andrew Garfield — who, once again, turns in a rich, stellar performance — is “the Ploughman” (that’s “Plowman” in the American spelling), a farmer who lost his family in the recent Black Plague.

He’s the central figure of this fact-inspired tale, but he’s entirely fictional.

In actual history, the Plague killed so many that there was a labor shortage. Competition for workers led to rising wages, which displeased landowners. The British Crown took measures to return wages to lower, pre-Plague levels.

At the same time, the cost of the Hundred Years’ War with France spurred new, onerous levels of taxation.

In The Uprising, the Ploughman defies the taxman and winds up as one of the leaders of a broad-based grassroots rebellion.

The other leaders are two historical figures: former soldier Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis, Shōgun), and heretic priest John Ball (Jamie Bell), who’s part of a utopian, proto-Protestant force opposing the Church.

Also in the mix is a former nun (Thomasin McKenzie) — they’re popular this year — a survivor of clerical sexual abuse. Deeply angry, wounded by the patriarchy, brittle and thoroughly radicalized, she represents a type of female character often seen in today’s socially conscious movies (and in social media).

On the other hand, there is the Queen (Katherine Waterston), mother of the teenage King Richard II (Woody Norman). She’s dignified, wise, devout and sensible — and was a pleasant surprise.

Tyler, Ball and the Ploughman gather forces from across the countryside and march on London. Extreme, bloody, graphic violence ensues.

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Is It Historically Accurate?

High fantasy likes to play with medieval themes of kings and queens and jousts and so on, and other colorful aspects of the Middle Ages (plus adding dragons and magic, of course). They tend to leave out the hardscrabble existence of the lower classes.

Ironically, Monty Python and the Holy Grail didn’t, and it satirically captured some of the growing anarchic spirit that fueled the Peasants’ Revolt.

Even films grounded in history prefer to depict nobility and royalty, with peasants showing up for comic relief or as cannon fodder. The Peasants’ Revolt is one of the moments in English history when the common man takes center stage.

Because of that, the overall aesthetic of The Uprising is dirt, filth and mud (I was grateful we don’t have Smell-O-Vision), and that’s probably accurate.

The story does track the general shape and outline of the Peasants’ Revolt, including a rather surprising turn by the Mayor of London (an unrecognizable Jonny Lee Miller).

That’s probably because of consultant Dan Jones, a British historian and YouTuber. We had a brief chat.

As you might expect, the wealthy characters are generally venal (also probably accurate), and the rebels are noble and idealistic (at least until they hit churches and cities, when all hell breaks loose).

Actually, in general, despite Garfield’s layered, powerful performance, I wouldn’t call The Uprising exactly entertaining.

It does move very fast (perhaps too fast to make sense of it all), the worldbuilding is impressive, and the battle scenes rival anything in Game of Thrones (and exceed them, since the brutality really happened).

But, I did not enjoy it, not that I think I was meant to.

So, What’s the Robin Hood of It All?

Just before going into the screening of The Uprising, I saw news that the title had been changed to the tongue-twisty The Uprising: The Rise of Robin Hood.

That didn’t turn out to be true, but the legendary robber and his band do make an appearance — but I wouldn’t call them merry.

Like most people, I associate Robin Hood with the 12th-Century King Richard the Lionheart, and the Crusades. Apparently, that’s wrong.

Said Jones:

The very first Robin Hood tales that we know of, the king is not Richard the Lionheart at all. He’s a king called Edward, in fact. It’s a 14th Century story: Robin Hood and the Monk.

“So, the moving back of Robin Hood to the time of the Crusades is a modern addition to the story, and actually, Robin Hood emerges from a whole bunch of different outlaw tales at exactly the same time as the Peasants’ Revolt.

That, I think, is much closer to the one that we see in The Uprising. He is a yeoman; he’s a man of the soil; he’s violent, he’s religious. He’s not a romantic figure, the son of a lord who wants to, sort of, take from the rich and give to the poor.

None of that is in the original tales. They are of the same gritty, earthy, violent quality as the events of the Peasants’ Revolt, and that’s why I think it was… it’s smart to have brought the two things together.

The final result, though, is rather odd and awkward, feeling more like an aftermarket add-on than an integrated part of the film. It’s also rough and very angry in tone.

Pretty sure I’d pass on a sequel featuring this Robin Hood.

How Is the Catholic Church Treated?

It’s hard for filmmakers who have disdain for faith to hide it. But I didn’t feel that with Greengrass’ treatment of it.

From an an interview circa 2006 (and considering the blood and guts spattered all over The Uprising, his first comment is ironic):

What was the last movie you walked out of?

The Passion Of The Christ. It was too violent for me.

Do you believe in God?

[Long pause] No. But I have a great respect for the spiritual way.

The relationship of The Uprising to Catholicism is ambivalent. Along with the utopian heresy of Ball, there’s a bad archbishop, but also a good priest who stands with his parishioners against the goverment soldiers.

The young king is shown as deeply conflicted because of his strong faith, which comes off as sincere, if tempered with teenage insecurity and confusion.

The sacking of a cathedral is disturbing and not treated as a good thing (can’t say the same about how the upper crust ends up).

The Uprising doesn’t shed any real light on medieval Catholicism, which is a shame and a missed opportunity, since attitudes to faith permeate the motivations of almost all the characters.

Should Families Go See It?

Heavens, no. Absolutely not. It earns its bloody R rating. Only older teens and up.

Also, a sound mix as muddy as the landscape obscures much of the dialogue, not helped by accents that are probably realistic but nevertheless often confounding.

Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe to my content at Authory.com/KateOHare (which also features a library of earlier, celebrity-heavy stories.)

History and Religion

About Kate O'Hare

Journalism, screenwriting, Seahawks ... I prefer stories with soul. Covering the intersection of entertainment, faith and pop culture. Writing movies in my spare time -- when not watching Seahawks football, that is. From the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, left my heart in Saratoga Springs. Currently based in Los Angeles, where it's always another day in paradise. No, I don't pick my NFL team by geography. You can read more about the author here.

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