Andrew Scott's Elsinore Opens the London Film Festival With Tears, an Ovation and a Disco Tribute
The 70th BFI festival began at the Royal Festival Hall with Simon Stone's film about the actor who played Hamlet while ill with AIDS, and an early review rates it 90 per cent.
Friday, October 9, 2026/3 min read
The 70th BFI London Film Festival began on Wednesday night with a film about a theatre a short walk away. Simon Stone's Elsinore had its European premiere at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank, close to the National Theatre where its story is set, and, according to Variety's report on Yahoo, large parts of the audience were in tears as the credits rolled.
It tells the story of Ian Charleson, the Scottish actor known for Chariots of Fire, who in 1989 took over the role of Hamlet at the National Theatre after Daniel Day-Lewis walked off mid-performance. Charleson was ill with AIDS-related complications. Variety says he received rave reviews and died seven weeks after leaving the production. Andrew Scott plays him.
What is Elsinore about?
The BFI's festival announcement calls it a true story of an actor facing major obstacles as he prepares for Hamlet. Stone directs from a script by Stephen Beresford, who wrote Pride, and Scott is also a producer. The cast includes Olivia Colman, Billie Piper, Johnny Flynn, Luke Thompson, Monica Dolan, Juliet Stevenson, Joe Locke, Adeel Akhtar, Matthew Beard and Peter Mullan.
The review by The Reviews Hub fills in the setup. Director Richard Eyre approaches Charleson with three weeks to learn the part. Charleson notices a lesion early on, his health declines, and friends die of the disease while he works towards the performance.
What happened on opening night?
The audience cheered and gave Scott a standing ovation when his name appeared on stage, Variety reports. He then brought out the real-life people the film portrays, alongside the actors who play them. They included Linda Tolhurst, a stage doorkeeper at the National Theatre for 46 years, and the dresser Ralph Mills. Sean Mathias, the director and Charleson's close friend, was there too. The biggest ovation went to Dr Margaret Johnson, the pioneering HIV and AIDS consultant played by Colman.
Scott said little before the screening but spoke afterwards. He said the film honours Charleson's life and not only his death, and he dedicated the night to the actor with the words "this one's for you, Ian". He finished by introducing a song from The Ethel Merman Disco Album, which is performed in the film, and asked everyone to dance on their way out.
Kristy Matheson, the festival's artistic director, said she and her colleagues had to take a moment after first seeing the film, and that the venue's closeness to the National Theatre meant the festival was bringing it home.
What are the first reviews saying?
The film premiered at Telluride to wide acclaim, according to Variety, which calls it an expected awards-season contender. The Reviews Hub, in a review published on 8 October, gives it 90 per cent and calls it a fine tribute that is deeply affecting. It says Scott is magnetic on screen, drawing on his own experience of playing Hamlet at the Almeida and in the West End in 2017 and 2018, and that the film is occasionally sentimental but forgivably so.
When can you see it?
The festival runs from 7 to 18 October. Beyond London, the BFI lists a United States release through Focus Features on 20 November in select theatres and a United Kingdom release through Studiocanal on 29 January 2027. The festival's public screenings run through 18 October, with the wide releases to follow in November in the United States and January in Britain.
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