A private show from an iconic artist is probably at the top of an impossible-to-realize bucket list for anyone who has a deep personal connection to a musical act. And what if you could bring back together a band that broke up years ago, a sH๏τ of nostalgia straight to the heart? In The Ballad of Wallis Island, one man has the means to achieve this dream. It just doesn’t go exactly the way he expects.

Charles (Tim Key) lives alone on Wallis Island, a sparsely populated enclave with gorgeous cliffside beaches and beautiful rolling hills. He shuttles Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), one half of former folk group McGwyer Mortimer, to Wallis Island for a private concert, but what Herb doesn’t know is that Charles has also invited Nell (Carey Mulligan), his former lover and music partner, as well.

Nell and Herb are seeing each other for the first time in almost a decade and it’s clear from the get-go that they still have some things to work out. Herb went solo years ago, dropping an album, surprising Nell, and ending their creative partnership all in one fell swoop. Nell seems to have moved on – she arrives with her husband Micheal (Akemnji Ndifornyen) in tow – but Herb still has some residual feelings leftover from their band’s demise.

Basden and Key, who wrote the film together after releasing a short based on the concept with director James Griffith 18 years ago, could play this straight, but Charles is the film’s secret weapon. His off-kilter sense of humor, played with oblivious charm by Key, makes Nell and Herb’s reunion a comedy of manners by way of a fish-out-of-water concept, except Nell and Herb are the fish and Charles is constantly throwing zingers and surprises their way.

The Ballad Of Wallis Island Is A Joy To Watch

Don’t Mistake Its Breezy Humor For A Lack Of Depth, Though

Like Nell and Herb, Charles is hiding a deeper emotional current under his cheerful facade. His dedication to McGwyer Mortimer is immediately apparent – he won’t stop playing their albums when Herb arrives, nor will he leave the man alone as he tries to settle in for his stay. But there’s a reason his love for the duo runs so deep.

Charles often talks about his love for McGwyer Mortimer in the third person, so it’s clear there’s someone missing from this picture. Underneath his humor hides a loneliness spurred on by grief after his wife’s death some years ago. It seems she was the real McGwyer Mortimer superfan – he was just happily along for the ride.

Herb, too, is dealing with grief for his relationship with Nell and his once-promising career, which has devolved into what one character calls a joke, a notion the film clearly agrees with (we see an early concept of his new album cover and the image of that man is anтιтhetical to what we see of Herb in the film).

Nell, on the other hand, is quite well-adjusted. Though she mourns her music career, she’s happy making chutney and living with her husband in Portland. She longs to write more, but her time in McGwyer Mortimer doesn’t define her like it does Herb. Mulligan is pleasantly understated as always, playing Nell with delicacy even in the more tense moments she shares with Basden.

Out of this tension, everything comes to a head in a way that feels fitting for each character while not letting anyone off too easy. Herb, Charles, and, to an extent, Nell, are all wounded by the past and how they respond when they are confronted by it feels like a natural extension of who we’ve come to know in the film.

The Ballad of Wallis Island is effortless in its execution and breezy in its pacing, which makes its emotional undertones all the more surprising and affecting. Basden and Key aren’t heavy-handed with their examination of grief, so it can sneak up on you when you least expect it, but the film’s warmth counteracts what could be a gloomy disposition for something altogether delightful.

The Ballad of Wallis Island premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The film releases in theaters on March 28.