Wallis Island isn’t a place where you’d expect much.
The island has no harbor, no stadium, no hotel. The residents use a communal phone booth. And its sole grocery store has never heard of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.
But for all that you wouldn’t expect to be here, it is home to the world’s biggest fan of now-defunct indie folk band McGwyer Mortimer. That’d be two-time lottery winner Charles Heath. What’s more, the island’s rocky shores will soon host the first concert the band’s played in years.
Herb McGwyer, now a solo artist, is the first to arrive, donning Ray-Bans and a scowl betraying his hope that the venue might have been a little bigger. He expected that he’d be playing on a stage rather than a wooden pallet; that he’d be sleeping in a hotel rather than Charles’ guest bedroom; that playing for “less than 100 people” meant more than just Charles.
But despite the strange situation, Herb decides to stick around. Sure, it’s a bit weird how much of his merch Charles has and how the man incessantly plays the band’s music. But, given that Charles is paying 500,000 euros for the concert, he figures providing one performance before booking it out of there can’t hurt.
The biggest surprise to Herb, though, is when Nell Mortimer and her husband, Michael, arrive.
Herb assumed it’d just be him playing the classics. He didn’t realize Charles also hired the other half of McGwyer Mortimer, his ex-wife, to sing them with him.
And as the two awkwardly begin to speak and practice together for the first time in years, there’s one more surprise about Wallis Island that Herb never would have anticipated.
He never expected that this undeveloped island would change the direction of his life.
Wallis Island explores a nostalgic longing for the past, on multiple levels. Herb longs to reclaim both the fame he once had as well as rekindle his never-quite-forgotten relationship with Nell. Likewise, Charles’ desire to bring McGwyer Mortimer to his shores is a mixture of longing and grief. His wife died half a decade earlier. And since both of them loved the band, Charles hopes to rekindle memories he made with his wife through this concert (and by helping the band get back together).
The film also reminds us that while reminiscing and enjoying past days is fine, holding so tightly to them that it prevents future growth is not a healthy way to live. Eventually, whether we are as bitter as Herb or as kind as Charles, we must work through our deep-rooted longings and move forward, the movie tells us. And though the two men butt heads, their relationship slowly turns from hostile to healing. We see how they help each other move past the “things you can’t get back,” as Charles says.
In pursuit of that, both Herb and Nell encourage Charles to reach out to fellow islander Amanda, for whom it’s obvious Charles has feelings but refuses to act upon because of his yearnings about the past.
For her part, Nell remains faithful to her husband, Michael, and she wisely shuts down romantic tendencies. Likewise, Michael confronts Herb and sticks by Nell.
At one point, Herb has both a desire and opportunity to leave the island. But when he learns that Nell needs the money, he begrudgingly decides to stick it out.
None.
Herb strips off his pants, wearing only his shirt and underwear to go swimming. We see Herb in the bath, and the camera reveals him unclothed from the torso and up. Later, Nell accidentally walks in on him not wearing anything in the bathroom. We also see Herb in a towel.
Michael and Nell kiss. When Herb tells Charles he should invite a woman over to play tennis, Charles scoffs, “Very sexy, I don’t think.” Someone tells a man to not go “snogging the ladies.” Charles admits to having purchased a lock of Nell’s hair.
Someone nearly drowns. A man slips and falls onto his back.
We hear the s-word seven times. A man says, “F off.” There are a couples uses each of “a–,” “d–n,” “h—,” “pr-ck” and “p-ss.” God’s name is used in vain nearly 15 times. Likewise, Jesus’ name is misused once. We also hear British vulgarities such as “bloody” and “bollocks.”
Someone drinks champagne. A man smokes cigarettes. We hear a reference to a hangover.
None.
Sometimes, finding the themes of a movie can be a bit like reading the notes on a page of sheet music. Note by note, it can be hard to determine what’s there. But take out an instrument and start playing all those notes, and the song becomes immediately clear.
And The Ballad of Wallis Island provides a taste of that idea.
On its surface, the movie focuses on an eccentric lottery winner and his attempt to bring his favorite folk band back together—at least for one final concert. But those are the mere notes that make up the fuller song. Together, those notes form a melody, one that explores the deeper, bittersweet connection between loss and learning to move on from it.
And, like a skilled musician, Wallis Island doesn’t pound this theme out with a heavy hand. It’s simply there for viewers to pick up on through an otherwise comedic and light story.
To be clear, there are some discordant notes in the film: Herb is occasionally seen in the tub or swimming in his underwear, and some crude language concerns (primarily the s-word and misuses of God’s name) are present, too.
But, if those moments don’t ruin this tune for you, The Ballad of Wallis Island composes a lovely little song.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
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