The Ballad of Wallis Island
Lower Penarth Community Cinema, Penarth, CF64 5QD
Friday 30th January 2026
The Ballad of Wallis Island is a 2025 British comedy-drama film about an eccentric lottery winner who orchestrates a reunion of his favorite folk duo on his remote island home. Written by and starring Tim Key and Tom Basden, the film also features Carey Mulligan as the other half of the musical duo.
Synopsis
Charles Heath (Tim Key), a lonely widower and eccentric multimillionaire after winning the lottery twice, lives alone on the remote, fictitious Wallis Island off the coast of Wales. To honor the five-year anniversary of his wife's death, who loved the band, he uses his fortune to invite his favorite folk musicians, the long-sundered Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), for an exclusive private concert.
Unbeknownst to Herb, his former musical and romantic partner, Nell, has also been invited. When the bandmates and former lovers arrive, old tensions resurface, and Charles, who intended the concert to have an audience of one, desperately tries to salvage his dream gig amidst the stormy weather that traps them on the island.
The story is a heartfelt exploration of grief, nostalgia, the pain of moving on, and the healing power of human connection and music.
Charles Heath (Tim Key), a lonely widower and eccentric multimillionaire after winning the lottery twice, lives alone on the remote, fictitious Wallis Island off the coast of Wales. To honor the five-year anniversary of his wife's death, who loved the band, he uses his fortune to invite his favorite folk musicians, the long-sundered Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) and Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), for an exclusive private concert.
Unbeknownst to Herb, his former musical and romantic partner, Nell, has also been invited. When the bandmates and former lovers arrive, old tensions resurface, and Charles, who intended the concert to have an audience of one, desperately tries to salvage his dream gig amidst the stormy weather that traps them on the island.
The story is a heartfelt exploration of grief, nostalgia, the pain of moving on, and the healing power of human connection and music.
