THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND
THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND
In an attempt to make peace with his past, an eccentric recluse spends his lottery fortune on reuniting his favourite musical duo. Inviting the long-separated former couple to his remote Welsh island, he commissions them to perform an intimate concert - one that may reopen old wounds as much as it rekindles forgotten feelings.
There are countless ways to spend a lottery jackpot. One could, for instance, use it to bring back a long-lost favourite band. That’s precisely the idea that strikes Charles Heath (Tim Key) - an eccentric, endlessly talkative loner living on a tiny, windswept island off the coast of Wales. A self-proclaimed superfan of the defunct folk-rock duo McGwyer Mortimer, Charles decides to reunite the pair, who haven’t seen each other for years and whose romantic relationship ended almost as messily as their musical one.
Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), whose solo career has been little more than a string of misfortunes, isn’t exactly thrilled at the thought of performing a cosy comeback gig with his ex. But when Charles offers him half a million pounds for the privilege, he reluctantly agrees. Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), who’s since traded songwriting for a career producing Indian sauces, greets the idea with more warmth, though her arrival on the island with her husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen) complicates matters considerably.
As rehearsals get underway, long-buried tensions resurface, egos collide, and the echoes of the past mingle with flickers of tenderness that neither Herb nor Nell expected to feel again.
Directed by James Griffiths, whose 2007 short film inspired this feature-length adaptation, THE BALLAD of WALLIS ISLAND (2025) is a wry, beautifully scored and quietly affecting film. Blending British humour with emotional depth, it’s a thoughtful and visually stunning meditation on reconciliation, regret and the fragile hope of starting anew and looking forward to a better future.
Text: Rafał Glapiak
.png)
.png)
