The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025) – Review

Quick Thoughts:

• Grade – B
• The screenplay written by Tim Key and Tom Basden pops with engaging dialogue. 
• The Welsh filming locations are stunning.
• Tim Key successfully walks an eccentric tightrope to deliver a likable and charming. performance. Many things could’ve gone wrong when playing a character like “Charles,” but Key avoids any major misstep and makes the guy quite charming.
• It features the best 2025 usages of a phone booth and a bag of coins.

Based on the 2007 Bafta-nominated short film, and filmed in 18 days, The Ballad of Wallis Island is a charming look into what happens when a wealthy maniac named Charles (Tim Key) pays $800,000 for two folk musicians (Carey Mulligan and Tom Basden) to play a concert for him on an isolated island. It asks you to set aside your cynicism and embrace a world where telling a retired folk musician that you bought a lock of their hair is normal. It reminded me a bit of rom-coms like While You Were Sleeping, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Never Been Kissed and The Proposal – movies featuring lead characters who lie their faces off and somehow come out on top. It’s a good thing that director James Griffiths and writers/actors Tim Key and Tom Basden couldn’t let go of their short film because they’ve produced a neat ‘self-contained little fairy tale’ about how hard it can be to move on.

The Ballad of Wallis Island is a scrappy tale centering around a widower named Charles who after winning the lottery twice, has secluded himself on a gorgeous island inhabited by puffins, fishermen and Amanda (Sian Clifford), the owner of the only store on the island. He spends his days cooking halibut, going on walks, practicing his tennis serve, and listening to McGwyer Mortimer’s records. On the 10th anniversary of his wife’s passing, he shells out $800,000 for Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) to come to his island to perform a show in front of “less than 100 people.” 

The major hurdle for Charles is that the popular folk duo broke up their successful partnership years ago when Herb attempted a solo career and Nell moved to America and got married to Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen). There isn’t any major bad blood between them, but Charles doesn’t tell Herb about Nell coming — which adds drama to the proceedings. Herb arrives first and is immediately put off by the fact that there’s no dry dock on the island and he’s forced to wade through waist-deep water that soaks his belongings and skinny jeans. Herb is the type of person who, even though he is getting paid $500,000 for a few days’ work, can’t be bothered to pretend that he wants to be there or that he cares about the gorgeous scenery. I’ve read some reviews that say nothing is interesting about Herb, which is the point of the character. Decades of touring and recent failures have made him tired and annoyed. Having worked on 200+ film/TV/commercial/music video sets and comic conventions, I’ve witnessed a plethora of artists show up to a set or convention and behave like McGwyer. It’s not that he’s boring, he just hasn’t had to be interesting for years. 

Nell arrives a day later with Michael and is immediately smitten with the island and totally game for the reunion because she’s getting paid $300,000 (there’s a good bit when she realizes she’s getting paid less). Michael takes off almost immediately to go on a bird-watching tour (can’t miss the puffins!), which leaves Nell and Herb alone to practice their set and hang with the over-the-moon Charles. During their time as a popular folk duo, Nell helped write the final 10% of each song and was the creative and grounding force that made them successful. When they broke up the band, neither could recapture their former glory and the lucrative money being offered by Charles is a welcome lifeline after they ended their profitable world tours. 

The Ballad of Wallis Island offers a few surprises so the rest of the film won’t be spoiled, just know that it ends on a happy note involving the characters being able to kick off a new phase in their lives. The most impressive aspect of the movie is how it adapts a short film with a running time of 25 minutes into a feature-length experience. A decent amount of the lines from the short film reappear, and the leaky sink is still a character, but the new additions don’t feel unnecessary or created to stretch the running time. In the short film, Charles has won the lottery twice, but instead of traveling the world with his wife (which happens in the movie), he spends it on booze, drugs, parties and a monster truck. Also, the character of Nell is never introduced, and her inclusion brings a welcome dose of warmth into an experience dominated by two men bickering endlessly. 

The production design by Alexandra Toomey is perfect as Charles’ house is believably snug and Amanda’s shop seems welcoming and real. G. Magni Ágústsson’s cinematography is just as good because he allowed the camera to linger on the walking trails, rock-strewn beaches and the beautiful views of the Irish Sea. On top of the solid production and cinematography, the costume design by Gabriela Yiaxis is top-notch as the characters look great in their comfy sweaters, 1970s-esque tennis gear, flowy dresses, and fanny packs. The Ballad of Wallis Island is a solid all-around production and I hope that it gathers an audience.