The Ballad Of Wallis Island Movie Review (2025)
When you see a film that is so charming and subtle that it burrows inside of you, you start bursting to tell everyone about it. So let’s talk about The Ballad Of Wallis Island.
I will admit, indie films are kind of my bread-and-butter. I love all types of film genres, but it’s always those indies that seem to have a special kind of spark. I enjoy the character development and the subtlety that you don’t tend to find in the big budget blockbusters.
The Ballad Of Wallis Island is the story of Charles, a cheery and peculiar man with boundary issues who lives alone in a large home on the fairly secluded Wallis Island. He has invited Herb McGwyer, a famous music artist, to the island to play a concert, and without Herb’s knowledge, his former singing and life partner, Nell Mortimer as well. They made up McGwyer and Mortimer, a famous folk duo that Charles, a superfan with funds, has contracted to play together one more time. The duo has not spoken in years, and with Nell’s unexpected arrival, Herb is completely thrown off.
This is a lovely film. It is funny, charming, and quirky with excellent characters and off-center dialogue that will have you chuckling frequently. The set is gorgeous, having been filmed on an island just off the coast of Wales, and the sunsets, ocean waves, and greenery are used brilliantly to create a sense of nature’s embrace.
All three of the stars – Tim Key, Tom Basden, and Carey Mulligan – experience a vulnerability that allows the audience in, and you feel their openness through the screen. Charles, a chatty eccentric, just wants connection, but is willing to settle for the little life that he now has. Herb, a solo artist, thinks he is “somebody” with a celebrity rider and a manager, but there is a clear emptiness that he can’t fill. Nell has a full (if smaller) life with her husband, but beautiful memories of the past.
Finding out that Tim Key and Tom Basden wrote the screenplay for this film and that Key, Basden, and Mulligan are all executive producers makes me love this even more. Believing in a piece so much that you put your time, money, and talent behind it is something to be applauded. Particularly when it is this good.
This delightful comedy is full of heart and music. It is a story that you will get swept away with and wish that it hadn’t ended when the credits start to roll. I saw this in the movie theater and not a single person stood up to leave while the music was still playing. Only after the lights came up and the screen went dark did anybody get ready to go. Even if we still weren’t ready to.
Runtime: 99 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: PG-13
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes, it’s great
Did I Cry? Yes, I got teary
My Rating: 4.75/5 Stars
Available: Currently in theaters
