The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025, Blu-ray, Library Rental) Review

[SRW1000]

Studio:  Universal
Release Date:  6/6/2025
Rating:  PG-13
Film Grade:  B+

The Story:  The great Herb McGwyer has had a successful folk-music career over the decades, starting from his days as half of the duo McGwyer Mortimer, to his recent releases pairing him with a variety of commercial artists.  Now, he’s going to be playing his strangest gig of all.  He’s been booked by a super-fan to play a small venue (less than 100 people) on a tiny, remote Welsh island for a lucrative fee.  Of course, not everything goes as planned and some adjustments may need to happen if the show is to go on.

My Take:  This is another movie that I went into completely blind, and it’s a great example of being rewarded with something special.  Hollywood seems to have given up on the light comedy/romance/drama genre but that doesn’t mean that the stories aren’t still being made, and being made very well, thank you.

The movie began life back in 2007 as a 25-minute short film written by the two primary actors, Tom Basden and Tim Key, and directed by James Griffiths.  The three had a great time making the original and relished the opportunity to expand it and add some additional depth. 

Basden plays McGwyer with a bit of underlying melancholy as the practical artist, simply there to play a small show for the money in order to finance his next album.  In contrast, Key is the child-like Charles, a man who can’t shut up, filling each moment with riffing wordplay and always trying to amuse those in his company.  Joining the two primary characters is an absolutely radiant Carey Mulligan playing the ex-girlfriend who oozes her vivacious love of life through her disarming smiles and charming ways.  Griffiths has pulled some wonderful performances from the troupe, often leaning into expressive facial reaction, with much of the acting really shining through the actors’ eyes.

Music lovers will appreciate the depths to which Charles has cultivated his appreciation for the band.  One of the movie’s themes is how artists change over time, with both styles and genres.  How much of that is driven by art, and how much by commerce, and fans’ reactions to those changes.  It also provides fine portrayals of how some of the meaning and attachment listeners have to songs is directly attached to the time and events of when they first appeared.  On a much lighter note, folks here will get a chuckle out of the literal egg crates Charles has fastened to the walls in his attempt to add soundproofing to the house’s solarium. 

Humor is largely character-driven, followed by playful dialog, and the abstract differences between modern, urban life and the rustic culture of the island.  Think less farce and more slice of life.  But humor is just part of the story, it’s also tinged with elements exploring regrets, choices, and the contrasts between dwelling in the past and looking to the future.  In what could have been a cookie cutter, sappy Halmark feature, the film takes a few surprising turns, adding a layer of emotional depth that was both unexpected and well earned.

Visuals:  The cinematography reproduces the natural elements of the island nicely, with green island scenery contrasted with the gray pebble beach, and the vast blue waves of the ocean.  Interiors are muted and dominated by brown, earthy colors.  This all contributes to a homey, comfortable but distressed feel of an old Wales homestead.  There were no signs of banding or other flaws. 

Audio:  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is front-heavy but reproduces the musical pieces just fine.  The delicate guitar work and harmonic singing are quite believable in the context of the movie, hats off to Tom Basden who wrote and performed his own songs.  The score is minimal, with guitar cues used primarily for scene transitions.  There are environmental effects, such as the ocean and gulls to bring the audience to the island.  There’s nothing spectacular here, but it’s not the kind of movie that needs it.  Dialog is clear, but the accents were a challenge in a couple of spots.

Special Features:  None, sadly.

Final Verdict:  This is the perfect little antidote to summer’s overwhelming cavalcade of action/adventure, big event movies.  Breezing by at under 100 minutes, it was entertaining and involving from beginning to end, blending playful humor with heartfelt moments, all built around relatable human characters, making it feel fresh, lively, and endearingly warm.

Every once in a while, some gems pop out of our library rentals, and that was very much the case with this one.  We found it to be eminently rewatchable and something that we will have fun sharing with others, so we’ll definitely be adding it to our collection. 

The movie is also currently available via streaming on Peacock.

Thematic Dialog:  “I’m not playing the old songs, like some tribute band.”

The trailer gives away some of the plot twists, so I don’t recommend viewing it.



My Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
Elite Screens Sable Frame B2 117” Width with Infinitely Variable Height
Monolith by Monoprice HTP-1 16 Channel Processor with Dirac Live
Monolith by Monoprice 7x200 Watts Amp
Monolith by Monoprice 3x200 Watts + 6x100 Watts Amp
JBL Studio 590 for Left, Center, Right, Wides, and Rears
JBL Studio 580 for Side Surrounds
JBL Studio SCS 8 for Tops
JTR Captivator 1400 Subwoofer X 4
Panasonic DP-UB420 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
Oppo BDP-93
NVIDIA Shield Android TV - 4K
Xbox One X
HTPC Running madVR (work in progress)
Remote: URC MX-780
Mini DSP 2X4 HD controlling all subwoofers
APC S15 Power Conditioner with Battery Backup

[David Vaughn]

It looks like a movie that my wife would like. Is it something that would hold up to repeat viewings?

[SRW1000]

It looks like a movie that my wife would like. Is it something that would hold up to repeat viewings?

Yes, I would think that your wife would like it; it played well to both of us.

As far as repeat viewings, I popped it back in to check on a few things for my review and ended up watching it all from beginning to end again.  I can see us watching it many times in the future.

Let us know what you think if you decide to check it out.

[bmoney]

How do you go about choosing these ransoms. Do you read the back cover. I find I’m a sucker for just the cover art. If it’s not appealing I’ll skip. 

[David Vaughn]

How do you go about choosing these ransoms. Do you read the back cover. I find I’m a sucker for just the cover art. If it’s not appealing I’ll skip.

So....are you saying you judge a movie (book) by it's cover ?

[SRW1000]

How do you go about choosing these ransoms. Do you read the back cover. I find I’m a sucker for just the cover art. If it’s not appealing I’ll skip.

I've got a filter set up on our library system's Blu-ray listings to show the newest titles first.  That still gives me an alphabetical listing for the current year.  (That's disappointing data management for a library system, but I digress.)

Then it's just a matter of scrolling down the list, looking for any new titles that have been added.  There's usually about 2-8 per week.  I can't really go by covers, since only about half of the listings have one showing.  Here's an example using this particular movie:

The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025, Blu-ray, Library Rental) Review

I don't usually trust covers anyways since I haven't found there to be a good correlation between the art and movie quality.  If there's a title I haven't heard of, I'll go to the details page, read the summary, look at the director and cast list, and if any of those things sound like they could be entertaining I'll click the request button.  Sometimes we win, other times we lose.

Funny story about covers:  I reserved a new 4K thriller that had an interesting title (The Devil's Honey), but only a short, vague description:  A young woman abducts and subjects a doctor whom she holds responsible for the death of her boyfriend to unspeakable acts.

My wife was a bit shocked when she went to pick it up and asked me if it was some kind of softcore porn movie.  Turns out that it was an Italian Giallo film from the 80's that I would never have requested had the cover had been part of the library's listing. 

So, there are times that covers can be helpful!

[bmoney]

So....are you saying you judge a movie (book) by it's cover ?

Sometimes hahah. Well played 

[David Vaughn]

I've got a filter set up on our library system's Blu-ray listings to show the newest titles first.  That still gives me an alphabetical listing for the current year.  (That's disappointing data management for a library system, but I digress.)

Then it's just a matter of scrolling down the list, looking for any new titles that have been added.  There's usually about 2-8 per week.  I can't really go by covers, since only about half of the listings have one showing.  Here's an example using this particular movie:

The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025, Blu-ray, Library Rental) Review

I don't usually trust covers anyways since I haven't found there to be a good correlation between the art and movie quality.  If there's a title I haven't heard of, I'll go to the details page, read the summary, look at the director and cast list, and if any of those things sound like they could be entertaining I'll click the request button.  Sometimes we win, other times we lose.

Funny story about covers:  I reserved a new 4K thriller that had an interesting title (The Devil's Honey), but only a short, vague description:  A young woman abducts and subjects a doctor whom she holds responsible for the death of her boyfriend to unspeakable acts.

My wife was a bit shocked when she went to pick it up and asked me if it was some kind of softcore porn movie.  Turns out that it was an Italian Giallo film from the 80's that I would never have requested had the cover had been part of the library's listing. 

So, there are times that covers can be helpful!

That made me LOL

[SRW1000]

Just a heads up; this movie has been added to Amazon Prime so members can watch for free.

It's a great little movie, one that can be enjoyed equally by men or women that manages to warm your heart without feeling treacly.    One of the stars, Tim Key, is now appearing in the streaming TV series The Paper (a spinoff of The Office).