#REVIEW: “ELSINORE” REVIEW

By Nicholas Porteous

In 1989, Ian Charleson (Andrew Scott), best known for starring in Chariots of Fire, is handed the opportunity of a lifetime. Daniel Day-Lewis has developed a habit of walking offstage during The National Theatre’s legendary production of Hamlet and they need a new prince of Denmark. It’s his dream role. The only problem: his ever-worsening AIDS diagnosis. Leaping onto the stage for three hours every night to fight with swords and contemplate death is the very last thing his doctor (Olivia Colman) wants. But spending those final days transforming into the ultimate tragic hero is exactly what Charleson needs. Elsinore is a story of tenacity and triumph, and the healing camaraderie and spirituality of theatre, brought to life by a riveting performance at its core. It’s too bad that nearly every other facet of the filmmaking in Elsinore is working against Andrew Scott’s vivid embodiment of Charleson.

Elsinore is at its strongest when it gets out of the way of Scott–mainly in its first act, when scenes play out from beginning to end with minimal commentary from the score or the edit. As the movie unfolds, it becomes increasingly reliant on montages. For a movie about Hamlet, it’s surprisingly rare you’ll ever get to simply watch a scene from Hamlet. Instead, we’re given only tiny fragments in a seemingly random order to convey an artistic process, with an overbearing score to connect the dots. Director Simon Stone isn’t interested in letting anything sit still or speak for itself. He weaves a faint impression of a towering achievement, but the true power of Charleson’s performance–and all the sacrifice that comes with it–gets utterly lost in the details.

Some may be enraptured by Scott’s commanding-yet-vulnerable presence alone, able to look beyond the unnecessary tactics deployed by Elsinore‘s domineering edit. My audience burst into tearful applause as the credits rolled. But speaking for myself, the true tragedy of Elsinore is its relentless use of editorial bells and whistles that only serve to overshadow and ultimately suffocate the moving themes at its core.

Elsinore screens at TIFF ’26:

Mon. Sept 14 at 12:00 PM at The Princess of Wales Theatre

Tues. Sept 15 at 6:30 PM at Scotiabank Theatre

Sat. Sept 19 at 1:00 PM at Roy Thomson Hall

Sun. Sept 20 at 4:00 PM at Scotiabank Theatre