Charles (Tim Key), an isolated man, lives on an island off the Welsh coast. Despite appearances, he is a man of means, though its source is a mystery until late in the film. As such, he can get his favourite folk duo, McGwyer Mortimer back together for one last exclusive performance on the remote island.  

Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) is the embittered musician who never made it to stardom. Desperate for funds for his latest solo album, he agrees to the gig. As only one half of the duo, Charles has to tempt Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) to attend. Nell arrives from her jam-making life in Oregon with her new birdwatching husband in tow. Whilst there is warmth between the characters and a wistfulness from Herb as to what might have been and still possibly could be, Nell has clearly moved on from her former lover. While strumming guitars she says “It was great, it was, but it’s gone now. It’s time to grow up”. 

This is a funny, engaging yet melancholic film. Cary Mulligan, despite being the biggest name, has the shorter role. The men left behind are the main act. Their mutual respect, if not quite friendship, is the film’s central duet.

The Ballad of Wallis Island had a long gestation. The short on which this is based, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island (2007), won an Edinburgh Film Festival award back in 2008. Seventeen years later, the long-form version involves many of the same team: director James Griffiths, plus Key and Basden on writing and acting duty. Thanks to the years it has taken to get here, the film feels like a musical time capsule, capturing the folk resurgence of the noughties.

“There are songs sung sweetly, insults hurled then retracted, and a balm of kindness in every frame that emerges from somewhere between Basden’s hangdog sensitivities and Key’s cherubic wit”. Kevin Maher, The Times