‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’ Is the Feel-Good Comedy We Need
Every few years, a music-centered movie uses guitar strings to tug at the heart strings. Two examples: Once (2007) and A Star Is Born (2018). The sublime U.K. comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, ranks among the best in the category. It’s easy to love, even though — or possibly because — its main character struggles with that very emotion.
Wallis Island (which doesn’t actually exist) is a tiny, remote island off the coast of Wales that lacks both a harbor and a dock. When Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) arrives for a gig, the cranky singer of the popular 2010s folk band McGwyer Mortimer is soaked to the bone — and aghast to learn that Wallis Island is also missing a hotel. He ends up staying with sunny local Charles (Tim Key), a lottery winner who owns a historic home and speaks in charming puns like “You’re Dame Judi Drenched!” But because Charles and his late wife shared a passion for the band, he’s booked Herb to perform a concert on the beach just for him as a way to honor her.
Herb is getting a grip on these unusual circumstances when he’s hit with more unnerving news: Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), his ex-girlfriend and estranged former bandmate, is part of the deal With her music career behind her, she now sells chutney in Oregon with her nice-enough husband (Akemnji Ndifornyen). Awkward? Sure. But everyone needs the cash. This has to work.
A less assured effort would rely on twee humor or reductive rock star clichés. But the sentimentality feels organic as the duo delicately try to recapture their old magic. In one poignant scene, their benefactor tears up at their harmonies on an original ballad; audiences will, too. These stars sing in more ways than one. Herb may be down about his life (and his waterlogged iPhone), but Basden finds the character’s innate likability. It helps that he clicks big-time with Key (No surprise the pair cowrote the crisp screenplay.) The well-cast Mulligan, married to Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Mumford, is an effervescent presence with a marvelous voice.
They’re all a joy to watch in a film that doesn’t hit a single false note.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is now playing in NYC and L.A. and in theaters everywhere Friday, April 18
