The Ballad of Wallis Island

critic Reviews

, 96% Certified Fresh Tomatometer Score
  • The Ballad of Wallis Island hums along a sweet melody without lapsing into outright sentimentality, mining a great deal of warmth from its humble premise.
  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Kevin MaherThe Times (UK)
    There are songs sung sweetly, insults hurled then retracted, and a balm of kindness in every frame that emerges from somewhere between Basden’s hangdog sensitivities and Key’s cherubic wit.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Danny LeighFinancial Times
    What you also don’t anticipate is how poignant it all gets — a melancholy farce with an oddly pure soul.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Clarisse LoughreyIndependent (UK)
    Key and Basden avoid turning their film into a nostalgic pat on the back for smug millennials convinced they lived through artistically superior times -- the sense of loss here is strictly personal.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Catherine BrayGuardian
    Basden does excellent work as a character, in contrast, whose face does the talking: a spiky presence, all low cut T-shirts, wounded ego and rounded shoulders. It’s a perfect performance both as an actor and, when the songs come along, as a musician.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Tara BradyIrish Times
    Mulligan brings heart to Basden’s wistful folk compositions, and Key babbles amiably, as this crowd-pleaser salutes the redemptive power of a singsong.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Katherine McLaughlinLittle White Lies
    It may be a tad uneven and repetitive in places but it’s also enjoyably sweet and silly.
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  • , Rotten Tomatometer Score
    Simon FosterScreen-Space
    From it’s opening salvo of tweeness...to large dollops of illogicality...THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND is way off-Key.
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  • , Rotten Tomatometer Score
    Matt PaisMattPais.com
    The first time in a long time that a movie featuring characters growing fond of someone who does nothing to earn it doesn’t star Adam Sandler.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Sean McGeadyRadio Times
    How funny you find it will depend on whether you click with Key's fussy delivery and the script's rat-a-tat wordplay, but its slow-burning warmth pays off in a lovely, bittersweet resolution.
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  • , Fresh Tomatometer Score
    Kevin FallonThe Daily Beast
    It turns out that I was very much in a mood to feel the warmth of a screenplay that has so much compassion for the human need for connection, and how gratifying it can be when you give yourself over to vulnerability.
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