The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025) review

Dir. James Griffiths

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★½

The Ballad of Wallis Island just sounds like the name of a delightful folk song, or perhaps more accurately, a concept album ala Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois. Let the title roll off your tongue, and then let its incandescent charm win you over for 99 blissful minutes.

Directed by James Griffiths (his first effort since Cuban Fury in 2014), and an adaptation of a nearly 20-year-old short filmed called The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island written by stars Tom Basden and Tim Key, the film takes place on the titular enclave located near Tonga and Fiji. The island is remote to the point where it doesn’t even have a conventional harbor when folk musician Herb McGwyer (Basden) arrives. He think he’s playing a gig for a few dozen people, but in reality, he’s there to perform for one man: Charles (Key).

Charles is a two-time lottery winner, but a lonely man, with a large estate and no one with whom to share it. He’s a diehard fan of Herb’s former duo, McGwyer & Mortimer, the latter being his former life and music partner, Nell (Carey Mulligan). Initially upset at the bait-and-switch pulled by Charles, Herb reminds himself that £500,000 is on the line, and he’s got a new album to fund. So, what’s a few days and a makeshift concert for a fan whose walls are enshrined with McGwyer & Mortimer records, photos, and other pieces of memorabilia?

The Ballad of Wallis Island is built on an energy and camaraderie as breezy as its seaside setting. It doesn’t so much as progress through its plot as it does drift and rift, guided by spirited conversations, mostly between Herb and Charles. The first 30 minutes is more-so predicated on Herb being shocked by his host’s deception. This is less an idyllic island and more a potential location for a season of Survivor. We see no hotels nor stores, and outside of Charles, the only local is Amanda (Sian Clifford), the owner of a sparse little convenience store. We wonder how she keeps the lights on selling packs of gum, candy, and other miscellaneous accessories. Does she have any customers beyond Charles?

A lesser movie might contort itself to explain how Wallis Island functions, but there’s a beauty in the way Basden and Key let their characters take precedent and simply let the surroundings be. The narrative kicks into a higher gear when Herb’s estranged partner Nell arrives with her new husband (Akemnji Ndifornyen) arrive. Charles told Nell she’d perform alongside Herb. Herb finds out he’s been ambushed yet again. Deep down, however, he does want to see Nell, knowing full well the pain it will bring.

Tim Key strikes the right balance in making Charles amiable and annoying. He’s a talker, that Charles. Constantly babbling. So fearful of a pregnant pause or perceived awkward lull in conversation. He’s also harboring a loss of his own, but while he’s technically in the presence of one of his biggest musical idols, he’s not immune from oversharing or paralyzed by the fear of making a good impression. One gets the feeling that Charles is the type of person who can practice in front of a mirror how he would like a conversation to go before returning to a social setting and then being consumed by his own social impulses all over again.

Tom Basden’s Herb is the anthesis of Charles; the Steve Martin to his John Candy. He’s reticent, somewhat prickly, and has all the hallmarks of a jaded artist who is continuing to battle for relevancy in a crowded musical landscape. Carey Mulligan’s Nell is the happy medium between both men. Mulligan comes across as older beyond her years in this film. In real life, she’s only 39, but Nell is a woman who has clearly lived a lot of life, and still has her spirit mostly in tact. Mulligan continues to impress in projects big and small, so it’s no surprise she owns the small beats here.

The Ballad of Wallis Island, as a whole, is a series of small beats that add up to an engaging whole. It’s cleverly written, funny (never overtly, but properly), and is firmly anchored on a tripod of great performances. If there’s a downside, it’s that Herb’s music isn’t as memorable nor as arresting as Llewyn Davis‘. However, on a remote island, somewhere Jimmy Buffett might’ve written some of his softer, more contemplative songs, it’s still an appropriate complement to the crashing waves and salty air.

Starring: Tim Key, Tom Basden, Carey Mulligan, Sian Clifford, and Akemnji Ndifornyen. Directed by: James Griffiths.