DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD, THE

(director/writer: Michael Sarnoski; cinematographer: Pat Scola; editor: Andrew Mondshein; music: Jim Ghedi; cast: Hugh Jackman (Robin), Jodie Comer (Sister Brigid), Katie Breen (Magaret), Murray Bartlett (leper), Noah Jupe (Arthur Godwyn), Bill Skarsgard (Little John), Faith Delaney (Little Magaret), Jade Croot (Wainwright, thieving woman drifter); Runtime: 123; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Alexander Black, Aaron Ryder, Andrew Swett; A24; 2026)

“An unpleasant film.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
Michael Sarnoski (“Pig”/”Death Stranding”) is the auteur of this pretentious revisionist take on the medieval English outlaw Robin Hood based on obscure Celtic ballads. The bleak period drama has Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman) as a grizzled, gray bearded, aging, brooding murderer rather than as a noble outlaw who steals from the rich to give to the poor. The result is an unpleasant film that wants to change the way we look at Robin Hood.


Robin is seriously wounded in a skirmish over a robbery by a female drifter (Jade Croot) in the Highlands in 1247, and goes to an isolated island where he’s cared for at the abbey by the kindly Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer). One of his loyal followers of the ‘merry men’, Little John (Bill Skarsgard), was killed in the fight.

On the island, Robin’s befriended by a masked leper (Murray Bartlett) and a wounded orphan Arthur (Faith Delaney), a relative of Little John who is looking for revenge. They all have a troubled past that’s recalled. Also on the island is Little Margaret (Faith Delaney), Little John’s needy daughter.

The grim film is graphically violent. I couldn’t find much to like about it, as it unconvincingly brings down a legendary hero we’re warned was only a common outlaw with a nasty murderous streak, who kept all the spoils for himself.

REVIEWED ON 6/23/2026  GRADE: C
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