Director – James Griffifths – 2025 – UK – Cert. 12a – 99m
***1/2
An emotionally clueless lottery winner living on a remote British island attempts to reunite his favourite singer / songwriting duo for a gig on his local beach – out in US cinemas on Wednesday, May 28th and UK cinemas on Friday, May 30th
When musician Herb McGuyer (Tom Basden) arrives by boat to play a gig on a remote island somewhere off the UK coast, he’s a little shocked when met by promoter Charles (Tim Key) that he’s required to wade through water on the beach – so shocked, in fact, that he drops his mobile phone in the water. There follows a lengthy walk up a steep track to the hotel where he’ll be staying – actually Charles’ house. Further surprises are in store. The intimate gig of less than a hundred turns out to be just Charles himself, a lottery winner who is a huge fan.
These days, Herb has a solo musical career, however Charles is particularly keen on Herb’s earlier work with McGuyer Mortimer in which he partnered with Nell Mortimer before that duo split and went their separate ways. Charles has neglected to mention to Herb that this is to be a reunion gig for the duo, and Mortimer will be joining them on the island shortly.
Sure enough, Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) turns up in due course, husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen) in tow. She has moved on musically and emotionally since McGuyer Mortimer and these days has a life completely outside of music, but is happy to do a reunion gig. Herb, by way of contrast, may have moved on musically but still harbours feelings for his old bandmate. As the pair begin rehearsing their old material, and Nell starts to write again, Herb’s romantic leanings threaten to derail the gig…
Although this undeniably has its comic moments – most of them, alas, are crammed into the trailer – it’s more successful as a lightweight, character-driven slice of life with charm to spare. The chief pleasures of the piece derive from the two male characters interacting with each other, and also from Charles’ inability to talk to members of the opposite sex. This being a small, sparsely populated island, that would be Amanda (Sian Clifford) who runs the local general store and is attracted to Charles, although he doesn’t realise it.
Much is made of Herb finding himself in a situation he’s not sure he wants to be in, specifically his proximity to a devoted fan of a musical period from his past. Also milked for all it’s worth is his loss of his mobile phone when he desperately wants to talk to his manager and sort everything out. Amanda doesn’t sell rice and has no concept of its use for drying waterlogged smartphones – she suggests a tin of rice pudding as an alternative.
The McGuyer Mortimer songs are pleasant enough, but they aren’t going to make you want to rush out and buy them on an album the way the songs in Once (John Carney, 2006) did. Still, there’s a certain pleasure to be had in watching Basden and Mulligan playing musicians rehearsing songs together. Indeed, the whole film is likeable, although the trailer suggests an uproariously funny comedy, which it mostly isn’t, and a much more upbeat romance than the piece ultimately delivers.
Overall, the whole thing comes across as a pale imitation of that landmark romantic drama and paean to the joys of Sottish island life “i know where I’m going” (Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1945). That said, although you can’t help feeling it could have had a lot more ooomph to it, The Ballad of Wallis Island remains a reasonable way to pass an afternoon or an evening in a cinema.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is out in cinemas out in US cinemas on Wednesday, May 28th and UK cinemas on Friday, May 30th.
Trailer: