Phoenix Film Festival: Hilarious British comedy ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’ kicks off 25th annual event

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The 25th Phoenix Film Festival commenced last night with The Ballad of Wallis Island opening the event.

Synopsis

In The Ballad of Wallis Island, Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) is a musician who just arrived at the remote Wallis Island to perform a gig. The gig is for Charles (Tim Key), a superfan of McGwyer and his work with former ex-girlfriend Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), who both used to record music under the name McGwyer Mortimer.

Charles is an eccentric guy, living by himself on the island off of lottery winnings and loves Herb’s music and newfound company a little bit too much. Herb is put off by Charles’ behavior, especially when he finds out the gig is for one person only: Charles. Making things worse for Herb, Charles also invites Nell and her husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen) to the island, hoping to rekindle his favorite musical partnership for the upcoming gig.

My thoughts

Most of the time when it comes to movies about obsessive fans, the characters are completely deranged and have lost all sense of reality. The classic Rob Reiner film Misery might be the prime example of this kind of film, showing just how dangerous and toxic fandoms can be. But what would a movie like Misery be if the fan was still an obsessive fanatic, but actually a nice person who’s still grounded in reality?

The artist in The Ballad of Wallis Island, musician Herb McGwyer, even makes a joke about Misery and says he’ll end up with bloody stumps for feet. He quickly acknowledges after that statement that Charles isn’t that kind of guy, though. Charles is certainly overly enthusiastic and way too eager to please his favorite artist, but his heart is in the right place, even if he might have some screws loose. Fortunately, they’re just tiny screws and all he wants to do is have his favorite artists play a personal show for him.

When fans attack... with niceness

So, yeah, there’s no suspenseful build-up or shocking twist that Charles is a murderer or anything like that. There’s not a negative bone in the guy’s body and the same goes for the film. The only time The Ballad of Wallis Island is “negative” is when Herb is acting like a whiny jerk, but that’s his job as the antagonist. He can be pessimistic all he wants, but it’s not going to matter, as Charles’ optimistic fanboyism will never waver.

Tim Key as Charles is absolutely brilliant and instantly funny when he first appears, with his overbearing hospitality, ridiculous puns, and an apparent lack of understanding of how the normal world operates. It’s not just a hilarious performance, but also one with genuine humanity behind it. When Charles is watching his icons perform right in front of him, the look behind his eyes displays so much admiration like he’s witnessing the finest art he’s ever seen.

Key also wrote the script along with Tom Basden and their dialogue is insanely sharp featuring that legendary dry, British wit. On-screen, they play off each other so well with perfect odd couple chemistry right off the bat making the effort Key and Basden put into shaping these fully realized characters and story unmistakable. The development of their relationship is so sweet and even if it’s a bit predictable, all the emotional beats are earned.

Key is so good that the movie suffers a little bit when he’s not on screen, although it’s still great. It’s just these moments lose some of that comedic steam, but I found the dynamic between Herb and Nell quite interesting (their music is pretty good, too). There’s always been something intriguing to me about songwriting partnerships that go sour, which is explored in their scenes together. Fans always want their favorite bands to get back together but fail to consider those band members are also people with feelings who may want nothing to do with one another.

Overall, The Ballad of Wallis Island presents a mature and heartfelt look at fandom. Just because you’re a massive fan of something isn’t a bad thing, but you have to keep things within a realistic perspective in regard to the creators. Charles isn’t violent or unhinged, but he does fail to think about Herb’s life beyond his art. On the other hand, Herb realizes just how much impact his music has had on one man, showing how being a fan of an artist can get somebody through some pretty dark times.

Stuck on an island

There are only five actors in the entire movie, but they’re all fantastic and the supporting characters all have the proper amount of screen time for their impact in the story to be felt. It’s not news that Carey Mulligan is one of the best working actors today, but it’s seriously impressive how effortlessly she can just walk onto scene and begin stealing the show. She’s only around in the second act, but her presence and impact on the story can be felt throughout.

Key and Basden actually adapted their 2007 short film The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island for this feature film, which they also starred in. This is basically that story but now expanded to 100 minutes, with Key and Basden reprising their roles and director James Griffiths returning behind the camera. It’s always interesting witnessing a transition from a short film to a feature, and The Ballad of Wallis Island is definitely one of the better short-to-feature adaptations out there, more than justifying its extra length.

This feature-length version coming out almost 20 years later also allowed Griffiths, Key and Basden to fine-tune their skills. Griffiths mostly works in network television, having only directed one other film over a decade ago, but you wouldn’t know it watching this. Unlike some television directors who move up to making movies, there’s nothing TV-like, short film-like, or cheap about the presentation here. It’s a true, blue (more gray here, I guess) feature.

The script for The Ballad of Wallis Island is indeed hilarious, but Griffiths gives it all such a gloomy and somber vibe that perfectly compliments the overcast scenery of the island. There’s hardly a ray of sunshine to be seen in this movie, but hey, I love stormy, overcast weather, so I could watch this all day long. G. Magni Ágústsson’s cinematography offers some drop dread gorgeous vistas for our eyeballs to feast upon, with some tasteful lighting during the nighttime scenes.

The dialogue provides a lot of the laughs, but Griffiths employs plenty of classic comedy direction with broad slapstick and subtle visual gags. One particular scene where Charles explains his lottery ticket story to Herb is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life. Griffiths’ experience directing the original short film, as well as his experience with working with actors in television, certainly came in handy as well, giving us a range of shots to take in these fine performances.

Final verdict

Hysterically funny from beginning to end, The Ballad of Wallis Island is a complete delight featuring phenomenal comedic performances and an interesting look into fandoms and creative partnerships. Thanks to a sincere and savvy screenplay, it’s a feel-good movie to the core that’ll imprint a massive smile on your face and maybe even get the tear ducts going as it all wraps up.

To be honest, 2025 has been a pretty ho-hum year so far when it comes to movies. I know we’re only three months into the year, but I feel like we normally get more high-quality projects by the end of the first quarter. The Ballad of Wallis Island is the perfect film to open the Phoenix Film Festival, because not only is it easily my favorite film of the year so far, but it shows the power of independent cinema and sincere, earnest filmmaking. It’s a film that’s artistically important in many different ways.

My rating: 9/10

The Ballad of Wallis Island will be released at Harkins Theatres Camelview at Fashion Sqaure on Thursday, April 3.

The Phoenix Film Festival is currently ongoing at the Harkins Theatres Scottsdale 101 location until Sunday, April 6. Visit their website for a full schedule and list of films.

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