Tenzing on Apple TV: The Darjeeling Man Behind the Everest Story, and Why It Took 73 Years to Tell It

For 73 years, the first ascent of Everest has mostly been told as Edmund Hillary's story. Apple's Tenzing, now streaming worldwide on Apple TV, flips that around.

It's the first major film to put Tenzing Norgay at the centre: the Sherpa who reached the summit with Hillary on 29 May 1953, and who spent most of his life, and died, in Darjeeling.

The film

• Streaming: Apple TV, worldwide, from 16 October 2026 (it played a limited run in US cinemas from 9 October)

• Director: Jennifer Peedom, who made the 2015 documentary Sherpa

• Writer: Luke Davies, who wrote Lion

• Cast: Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing, Tom Hiddleston as Edmund Hillary, Willem Dafoe as expedition leader John Hunt, Caitríona Balfe as expedition secretary Jill Henderson, and Thinley Lhamo as Tenzing's wife Dawa

• Shot on location in Nepal, around Kathmandu and the Everest region, and in New Zealand
  

There's an Indian production credit too: India Take One Productions is one of the companies behind it, alongside Apple Studios and See-Saw Films.

According to Apple, the story follows how Tenzing fought for a place on the British team as a climber, not only as support. Its central tension is between Western climbers who saw Everest as something to conquer and Tenzing, for whom the mountain was a sacred mother goddess.

Early reviews have been warm. It premiered at Telluride in September, and critics have mostly praised its sincerity and beauty, though some say it plays things too safe.

The man

His birth date and birthplace are uncertain, and both India and Nepal have long claimed him. What isn't in doubt is where he lived. He came to Darjeeling in 1932, and it stayed his home for the rest of his life.

1953 wasn't his first time on the mountain. By most counts it was his sixth Everest expedition. He'd carried loads with British teams in the 1930s, and in 1952 he climbed with the Swiss climber Raymond Lambert to about 28,000 feet.

After the summit, his life became intertwined with Indian mountaineering. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling was founded in 1954, an idea backed by Jawaharlal Nehru and West Bengal's Chief Minister B. C. Roy, and Tenzing was its Director of Field Training until he retired in 1976. He died at home in Darjeeling on 9 May 1986.

Why it matters

For a long time, Sherpas showed up in Everest stories as background. Peedom's documentary Sherpa was about that exact problem. Tenzing feels like her answer to it, and given how much of his life happened in India, Indian viewers have every reason to claim a piece of this film.

If you watch one thing this weekend, this might be the one. For more on how history shows up in pop culture, see Culture Curry.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I watch Tenzing?

On Apple TV, where it began streaming worldwide on 16 October 2026. It had a limited US cinema release on 9 October.

Who plays Tenzing Norgay in Tenzing?

Genden Phuntsok. Tom Hiddleston plays Edmund Hillary and Willem Dafoe plays expedition leader John Hunt.

Was Tenzing Norgay Indian or Nepali?

Both countries have claimed him. He is generally described as a Nepali-Indian Sherpa. His birthplace is uncertain, and he lived in Darjeeling, India, from 1932 until his death there in 1986.

Who directed Tenzing?

Jennifer Peedom, who also made the 2015 documentary Sherpa. It was written by Luke Davies.