TENZING

Tenzing Reveals the Man Behind Everest’s Historic Summit

History remembers the summit.

It doesn't always remember everything it took to get there.

Tenzing tells the true story of Tenzing Norgay, the legendary Himalayan climber who, alongside Edmund Hillary, became the first person confirmed to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.

Genden Phuntsok stars as Tenzing, a gifted climber whose knowledge and experience make him essential to expeditions attempting the world's highest mountain — even as Western climbers often view him as someone there to serve rather than stand alongside them.

Tenzing wants something more.

With encouragement from his wife Dawa (Thinley Lhamo) and support from expedition secretary Jill Henderson (Caitríona Balfe), he fights for the opportunity to join the British climbing team as an equal.

That brings him together with Edmund Hillary, played by Tom Hiddleston, under an expedition led by Colonel John Hunt (Willem Dafoe).

But Tenzing and the Western climbers don't necessarily see the mountain the same way.

To many of them, Everest represents something to conquer.

To Tenzing, Chomolungma is sacred.

As the expedition climbs higher, differences in culture, class and ambition begin giving way to something much simpler: survival. Tenzing and Hillary must depend completely on one another as they attempt something no climbers before them had successfully accomplished.

Directed by Jennifer Peedom, Tenzing looks beyond the famous photograph and historic achievement to explore the man whose climb represented not only a lifelong dream, but something deeply personal and spiritual.

The world remembers who reached the top.

Tenzing asks us to understand what reaching it meant to the man who helped make history.

Tenzing opens in select theaters October 9, 2026 and begins streaming globally October 16, 2026 on Apple TV.