The Ballad of Wallis Island

The Ballad of Wallis Island gives an answer to the question: what would happen if you invited your favourite musician to ditch a big venue and play a show for just one person – yourself? While this remains a dream scenario for most, eccentric two-time lottery winner Charles (Tim Key) makes it a reality when he summons his idol, tormented folk songster Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), to the titular island.

Wallis Island is a remote isle off the coast of Wales where the nature is as stunning as it is temperamental. Here, there's no harbour or phone service, and you'll have a hard time finding what you need in the only, poorly-stocked shop in sight. Key and Basden reprise their roles from the short they penned in 2007, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island. Back on writing duties for the movie, the duo team up once again with the short's director, James Griffiths. 

Nearly two decades on, the humour is unaltered, with some of the short's best jokes migrating verbatim. Yet, the feature's scope allows for the nostalgic pull of the past and the meaning of art to be explored through a new character: Nell Mortimer, Herb's former bandmate and lover, portrayed with warmth and self-assurance by Carey Mulligan, whose singing voice stand its ground alongside Basden's in some of the (very good) songs he wrote for the soundtrack.

When Nell, who has left music behind to make chutney, arrives on the island with husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen) in tow, it'd be too easy to mistake this dynamic as the film's love triangle. But Wallis Island is no romcom, or at least not the one you'd expect to see. The movie too often risks playing like an antihero's journey for Herb, but Nell's stubborn refusal to be confined to the 'love interest' box anchors the narrative in more neutral, compelling waters.

The real romance lies with Herb and Charles' archetypical odd couple (one is a grump, the other a ray of sunshine). Their enjoyable banter carries the film through the sojourn's highs and lows. The witty dialogue is a testament to Key and Basden's longtime professional and personal bond, one that started when they were part of Cambridge Footlights and continued as they would perform in one another's projects throughout the years. 

Together they've created a beautiful friendship for their characters, who find a surprising, if fleeting, harmony in their respective loneliness. Never overexploited, Charles and Herb's trauma is subtly woven in, which makes the film's glimpses of laid-bare honesty feel like a hard-earned gift. No one is an island, and no role is too small in this delightful tableau – honourable mentions to Ndifornyen along with Sian Clifford as shopkeeper Amanda, whose freak perfectly matches Charles'.

The Ballad of Wallis Island celebrates transient connections with an emotional maturity it couldn't have mastered 18 years ago. Some journeys take time, some you have to go through alone, but the film is a reminder that there is room for decent music, and people, along the way.