Elsinore (CTC)

BAFTA winner Andrew Scott delivers an extraordinary, career-best performance in Elsinore, a sweeping biographical drama that follows the real-life story of actor Ian Charleson and his courageous decision to play Hamlet at London’s National Theatre in 1989 while battling AIDS.

Widely known for his leading role in the 1981 sports-drama Chariots of Fire, Ian Charleson yearns to return to his theatre roots and away from the spotlight of Hollywood. When the role of a lifetime appears, to play the lead in London’s National Theatre production of Hamlet, so too does an AIDS diagnosis. Confronting his own mortality, Charleson must decide how he wants his final act to play out.

Alongside the always phenomenal Olivia Colman, Scott disappears into a towering performance, which many critics believe place him firmly in Oscar contention, that pulses with unbridled passion and humanity. Elsinore is a stirring celebration of the enduring power of art in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Cast: Andrew Scott, Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Juliet Stevenson, Peter Mullan, Adeel Akhtar, Luke Thompson, Johnny Flynn Monica Dolan, Matthew Beard, Dickie Beau, Kadiff Kirwan, Joe Locke

Director: Simon Stone

★★★★★ "Andrew Scott’s tearjerker will win him an Oscar" TIMES UK

★★★★★ "When Scott steps into the light, you stop watching a man die and start seeing an actor live as hard as he can, for as long as he can." LOUD AND CLEAR

★★★★★ "This is a performance of a lifetime; and one the Academy voters would need a collective bout of insanity to ignore." EVENING STANDARD

★★★★ "Andrew Scott pours his soul into Elsinore, with stunning conviction, and will rightly win awards for his performance." DAILY TELEGRAPH UK

★★★★ "Elsinore is a heartfelt tribute to an actor who kept doing what he loved when everything around him said to stop." HEYUGUYS

★★★★ "A powerful and soul-stirring drama that showcases the past, present and future of British acting talent. As Ian Charleson, Scott has established himself as more than just an awards contender—he is the frontrunner." FLICK FEAST

★★★★ "[Scott's] extraordinary achievement is that we stop watching the machinery of an awards-season performance and simply watch a man trying to remain himself while pieces of that self are being taken away." AU REVIEW

★★★★ "Andrew Scott is astonishing" GUARDIAN