Everything to Know about Focus Features' The Ballad of Wallis Island
Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan play former musicians reunited on a lottery winner's private island.
What would you do to get your favorite band back together again? That’s the burning question at the heart of Focus Feature’s upcoming quirky comedy, The Ballad of Wallis Island. Directed by James Griffiths (A Million Little Things, Episodes), the film is based on the director’s own 2007 BAFTA nominated short film, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island.
Tom Basden (After Life) and three-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan (Maestro) play musicians Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer, who used to be known as the successful folk duo McGwyer Mortimer. They’ve long since split up and gone their own musical ways. However, their “biggest fan” — eccentric millionaire Charles Heath (Tim Key) — wants to bring them together for a reunion concert. He does so by luring them to his home on Wallis Island, where old wounds are laid bare, compounded by a decade of separation, which threaten to tank the whole endeavor.
RELATED: The Odyssey: Matt Damon Suits Up as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's Greek Epic (FIRST LOOK)
Here's what you need to know about Focus Features' The Ballad of Wallis Island
What is The Ballad of Wallis Island about?
Getting to revisit their 2007 short has long been a dream for writers/performers Tim Key and Tom Basden. The comedians benefited from a huge career bump when The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island was nominated for Best Short Film at the BAFTAs (The British Academy Film Awards). In truth, they were too busy to revisit a longer version of their narrative until the COVID-19 lockdowns. It was then that Griffiths encouraged them to create a full-length feature screenplay, which fleshed out the characters and their lives.
“We wrote the first draft very quickly because suddenly, we were transported back into creating all these new characters and dynamics,” Basden said in the film notes. “Everything came together to make it feel like a bigger, meatier, and more emotional film.”
RELATED: The Unexpected Impact E.T. and How to Train Your Dragon Had on The Wild Robot (EXCLUSIVE)
To make the music of McGwyer Mortimer as authentic as possible, Basden wrote 25 songs for the film, creating a back catalog for the musicians that were influenced by singer-songwriters like Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Halstead, Gillian Welch, and Paul Simon. Basden and Mulligan sing the songs together for the recorded hits and their live performances in the film.
Who stars in The Ballad of Wallis Island?
BAFTA and Academy Award-nominated actress Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) plays Nell, who left the music industry behind entirely and created a small business. She’s happily married to Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen) and hasn’t felt the need to look backwards at her former career.
Award-winning writer and actor Tom Basden (Here We Go) co-wrote the screenplay and plays the now jaded musician Herb McGwyer. Having chased fame and money post McGwyer Mortimer, he’s now artistically adrift in his career, and unmoored in his personal life.
RELATED: How to Train Your Dragon Director Explains What Makes the Live-Action Version Different
Actor/writer Tim Key (This Time with Alan Partridge) plays lottery winner Charles Heath, who has an almost childlike innocence and love for the music and legend of McGwyer Mortimer. With his winnings, Charles wants to reunite them on his remote, private island, but he doesn’t understand what problems he’s igniting until they all come together.
When does The Ballad of Wallis Island open in theaters?
The Ballad of Wallis Island arrives in theaters nationwide March 28. Click here for tickets!
