The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Movie Review (2023)
A quiet film about an older man who decides to walk across England to save his friend in hospice, The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry encourages you to think about the small things.
It is always fun for me when I start a movie and realize that I’m with friends. Jim Broadbent, who I have always loved as Bridget Jones’s father, Penelope Wilton, who is from my beloved The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Linda Bassett, from the wonderful Call The Midwife series, have been onscreen friends of mine for years. They don’t know it, of course, but just seeing their faces show up in this film made me smile.
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry is about an older, unassuming man named Harold who, while sitting at the table with his wife, receives a letter from an old friend, Queenie, telling him that she is in hospice. Struggling to write her back, he finally does, and leaves the house to pop the letter in the mailbox. When he realizes that he can’t bring himself to mail it, a young woman in a shop inspires him to believe that Queenie won’t die, and maybe she would be okay. From here, Harold sets out on foot to deliver his letter in person, 600 miles across England.
This is a slow-burning film about life, love, regrets, and commitment. Not much happens, and that is the point. It is the simplicity that speaks the loudest in the clothes drying on a line outside, the apple peel being cut away with a knife, or the bathing in a cold water stream.
When Harold leaves his home, he leaves his phone on the table and his socks in the drawer. He had only intended to run out for a few moments, his wife still waiting for him in the kitchen. Over the course of the movie, he sheds other items, holding on only to what is truly most important.
I did get choked up while watching this, mostly from the kindness of strangers. The idea that a man would walk 600 miles to help save his friend from cancer isn’t logical. It’s seemingly impossible to do. And most of the people he meets on the road agree, but they are so impressed or enamored by him that they want to offer him food or lodgings. The kindness is emotional.
Harold is not a perfect man, although you know very little about him, his life, or his relationship with the two women in his life until much later in the film. And yet, the film does lag at times. When simplicity is the theme, it can be tough to continue making it captivating for an hour and 45 minutes.
Based on a book of the same name, The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry is about a man who makes a promise and is determined to keep it come hell or high water. My three actor friends are wonderful, and even though there are a few too many moments of Wilton’s character alone in the home, the movie’s messages come through.
Runtime: 108 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: Not Rated (I’d say around PG-13)
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? I got choked up
My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Available: Free on Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Roku or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
