“No kings.”
What the phrase means in 2026 America might be different to what it meant to England during the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt, but it’s a powerful declaration in either context.
Connecting these words across time, Paul Greengrass’ The Uprising tracks one of the defining moments of radicalism in British history. We meet Andrew Garfield as John Ploughman, a farmer who plays a key role in the resistance. In the 14th century, farmers, artisans, priests, and more common folk took on the tyranny of King Richard III, as the impact of the Black Death hung heavy, the Poll Tax ruined lives, and the Hundred Years’ War between England and France raged.
And in the film, Ploughman indeed says aloud, “No kings.”
“It was a line that Paul thought he should cut because he had written it before all of the “No Kings” protests that were happening in the United States against Trump,” said Garfield. “He was worried that it would feel like we are trying to say something specific in response to something that’s just happening. But in fact, it predated any of that stuff happening in real time.
“It felt the right thing just to go, no, this is something universal. This is something that is unfortunately timeless. And it’s a beautiful sentiment. The idea of hierarchy that is preordained being deconstructed feels very important.”
“This is something universal. This is something that is unfortunately timeless.”
Mashable Senior Editor Shannon Connellan sat down with Garfield, in the historic Charterhouse in London, a medieval monastery built before the revolt, just around the corner from St Johns Priory and Smithfield, where major events in the uprising happened (you’ll see them in the film).
Watch the interview above, in which Garfield unpacks The Uprising, including working with co-stars Cosmo Jarvis and Jamie Bell, the choreography involved with Greengrass’ handheld, documentary-style action, and wielding farm tools against steel and armour.
The Uprising opens in theaters in the U.S. on Sept. 10; a UK release will follow on Oct. 9.
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