Audiences at the London Film Festival have been introduced to Elsinore, a moving drama about Scottish actor Ian Charleson’s final Hamlet performance while living with AIDS. Andrew Scott, who plays Charleson, says the film matters because joyful LGBTQ+ stories and difficult queer history should have room side by side.

Essential Takeaways

  • A remarkable performance: Ian Charleson played Hamlet at London’s National Theatre in 1989 while seriously ill with AIDS.
  • A life cut short: He died seven weeks after leaving the production.
  • A wider message: Andrew Scott says stories about the AIDS crisis shouldn’t be dismissed as belonging only to the past.
  • Real people, real memories: Members of Charleson’s circle and HIV/AIDS consultant Dr Margaret Johnson attended the London premiere.
  • A balanced LGBTQ+ landscape: Scott welcomes joyful romances but argues that painful history must remain visible too.

Why Elsinore feels urgently relevant

The strongest thing about Elsinore isn't simply its famous play-within-a-film setting. It's the contrast at its centre: a celebrated actor delivering Shakespeare's most demanding role while his own health was deteriorating behind the scenes.

Andrew Scott plays Ian Charleson, the Scottish performer known to many viewers from Chariots of Fire. The film focuses on Charleson's 1989 run as Hamlet at the National Theatre, a performance that earned glowing reviews despite the actor being seriously ill with AIDS.

That detail gives the story a quiet, painful weight. On stage, Charleson had to project control, intensity and emotional range. Off stage, he was living through an illness surrounded by fear, stigma and widespread public misunderstanding.

Andrew Scott wants queer stories to remember, not retreat

Speaking to Variety after the film's European premiere, Scott said he embraces the happier LGBTQ+ stories that audiences can now enjoy. He pointed to popular titles including Heartstopper, Heated Rivalry and Red, White & Royal Blue as evidence of a broader, more varied screen landscape.

That progress matters. Audiences deserve romance, warmth and the occasional happily-ever-after, rather than seeing queer characters defined only by suffering. But Scott's concern is that the appetite for uplifting stories could sometimes push difficult history out of view.

He argued that avoiding the AIDS crisis may reflect shame surrounding the people who endured it. In his view, that shame belongs not to the patients and communities affected, but to governments that ignored the crisis and societies that allowed prejudice to flourish.

Ian Charleson’s final Hamlet performance tells a bigger story

Charleson took over as Hamlet after Daniel Day-Lewis left the National Theatre production. He went on to receive strong acclaim, even as his illness placed enormous physical and emotional demands on him.

He died seven weeks after leaving the show. That timeline makes the performance feel almost unbearably poignant, but Elsinore isn't presented simply as a story of decline. It also brings attention to Charleson's talent, friendships and the people who helped him keep working.

The film was directed by Simon Stone and written by Stephen Beresford. Together, they place Charleson's artistry alongside the practical, human support that surrounded him, from backstage colleagues to close friends and medical professionals.

The people behind the spotlight matter too

The London premiere gave that wider circle a moment in the spotlight. Scott invited several real people represented in the film to join the cast on stage, including National Theatre doorkeeper Linda Tolhurst, dresser Ralph Mills and director Sean Mathias.

Their presence helped turn the event into more than a conventional red-carpet premiere. It became a meeting between the people who remember Charleson personally and the actors now helping to preserve his story for a new audience.

Dr Margaret Johnson, portrayed by Olivia Colman, was also honoured. Scott described the pioneering HIV/AIDS consultant as a true-life hero, highlighting her contribution to the development of treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS.

Why queer cinema needs both joy and difficult history

LGBTQ+ storytelling has changed dramatically, with more room for tenderness, desire and ordinary domestic happiness. That's worth celebrating. Yet the freedom to enjoy those stories was shaped by people who lived through far harsher decades, often while facing institutional neglect and social hostility.

Elsinore arrives as a reminder that historical dramas don't have to compete with joyful queer stories. They do a different job. One offers escape and possibility; the other helps explain what earlier generations survived and what they changed.

For viewers choosing films about queer history, this is the kind of story that may stay with you long after the credits. It connects a legendary role with a real illness, but also with courage, care and the stubborn power of performance.

Elsinore makes room for joy, grief and remembrance in the same frame.

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