Michael Sarnoski's The Death of Robin Hood arrives wrapped in the promise of a bold, revisionist take on one of history's most enduring legends. Unfortunately, what unfolds is less an exciting reinvention and more a relentlessly bleak exercise in misery that mistakes grimness for depth. It's the cinematic equivalent of being trapped at a campfire with someone determined to explain why every fairy tale you loved as a child was actually terrible.
The premise certainly sounds intriguing. An aging Robin Hood, played by Hugh Jackman, is no longer the noble outlaw of folklore. Instead, he's a broken, violent man "grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder." After a battle leaves him gravely injured, he falls into the care of Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer, Free Guy), who offers him a chance at salvation. On paper, that setup suggests an emotionally rich meditation on legacy, guilt, and redemption.
In practice, however, the film quickly buries itself under its own self-importance.
One of the biggest problems is that Sarnoski seems completely uninterested in Robin Hood as a character audiences actually care about. Rather than exploring the mythology, the film spends most of its runtime dismantling it. Robin isn't a hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. According to this version, he robbed from the rich… and most assuredly kept it. The Merry Men are long gone. The adventures are over. The legend is a lie.
That's fine as a starting point, but when you spend two hours tearing down a myth, you need something equally compelling to replace it. The Death of Robin Hood never finds that replacement.
The film opens with a deeply confusing sequence involving an old man calling himself Randolph. We eventually realize this is Robin, now feeble and alone. The scene is immediately followed by a young woman approaching him in the woods, leading to a monologue about how all the stories of Robin's generosity are false. Then, in a moment that feels designed purely to shock us, Robin murders her in cold blood.
It's brutal. It's ugly. And it's the moment the film falls into a dark pit from which it never climbs out.
From there, the story becomes an endless parade of suffering, self-loathing, and conversations that seem determined to drain every ounce of energy from the room. If Logan gave us an aging hero confronting mortality with purpose and heart, The Death of Robin Hood feels like its distant cousin who spent too much time reading nihilistic poetry.
To make matters worse, much of the dialogue is delivered in such thick Celtic accents that I often found myself struggling to understand what anybody was saying. Normally, I enjoy films that embrace authenticity, but here it becomes a genuine obstacle. It's difficult to connect with emotional revelations when you're busy deciphering them. Subtitles, please!
That's especially frustrating because Hugh Jackman is genuinely excellent. He gives Robin a heartbreaking weariness and emotional complexity that deserves a stronger script. Jodie Comer also does admirable work as Sister Brigid, bringing warmth and compassion to a film that desperately needs both. They're doing heavy lifting that the screenplay simply doesn't support.
Visually, the film is undeniably impressive. Sarnoski and cinematographer Pat Scola create haunting images of muddy forests, crumbling sanctuaries, and a world scarred by violence. But beautiful photography can only carry a movie so far. Eventually, we need a story worth investing in.
Instead, The Death of Robin Hood offers a dreary, blood-soaked deconstruction that strips away everything interesting about its legendary hero and replaces it with a two-hour funeral march. It's certainly bold. But being bold isn't the same thing as being entertaining.
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 123 mins
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Writer: Michael Sarnoski
Cast: Hugh Jackman; Jodie Comer; Bill Skarsgård
Genre: Action | Adventure
Tagline: He Was No Hero
Memorable Movie Quote: "I am the Outlaw"
Distributor: A24
Official Site:
Release Date: June 19, 2026
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Grappling with his past after a life of crime and murder, Robin Hood finds himself gravely injured after a battle he thought would be his last. In the hands of a mysterious woman, he is offered a chance at salvation.
