{"id":1927,"date":"2025-05-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/?p=1927"},"modified":"2025-05-05T03:07:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T03:07:08","slug":"this-new-british-movie-is-one-of-the-funniest-films-ive-ever-seen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/03\/this-new-british-movie-is-one-of-the-funniest-films-ive-ever-seen\/","title":{"rendered":"This new British movie is one of the funniest films I\u2019ve ever seen"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Ballad of Walls Island is one of the best films of 2025, and bombards you with jokes throughout (Picture: Alistair Heap\/Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve been truly bowled over by one of the most relentlessly funny films I\u2019ve seen in The Ballad of Wallis Island<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t stop thinking about it after watching it as the opening night film at the Sands International Film Festival last weekend.<\/p>\n

A whopping 18 years in the making, The Ballad of Wallis Island is the ultimate labour of love having been developed from a 2007 Bafta-nominated<\/a> short by its actor-writer team.<\/p>\n

James Griffiths directed both the original and this new iteration, which is likely a major reason for its success this time around, alongside stars Tim Key<\/a> (recognisable to many as Alan Partridge\u2019s Sidekick Simon<\/a>) and Tom Basden<\/a> (seen in Ricky Gervais\u2019s After Life<\/a> and co-creator of Plebs).<\/p>\n

Key plays eccentric lottery winner Charles, who lives on a remote island and invites one half of a formerly popular folk-pop duo to play a private gig.<\/p>\n

But unbeknownst to singer-songwriter Herb McGwyer (Basden), Charles has also invited his ex and other half of the act, Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan<\/a>), in a na\u00efve attempt at reconciling his favourite act years after their messy split. And she brings her husband, Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen).<\/p>\n

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typeof(data.detail.carousel) === ‘undefined’ || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === ‘undefined’) {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\treturn;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t}<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar player = data.detail.carousel.el_;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar container = player.closest(‘.metro-video-player’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tvar placeholder = container.querySelector(‘.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.removeChild(placeholder);<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tcontainer.classList.add(‘metro-video-player–related-videos-loaded’);<br \/>\n\t\t\t});<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23019273 lazyload\" alt=\"Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer carries a guitar case up the hill, wet, following exasperatedly behind Tim Key as Charles Heath in a baseball cap, jumper and overalls in The Ballad of Wallis Island\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TBOWI_FP_00040-54db.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Tom Basden (L) and Tim Key (R) star as musician Herb McGwyer and lottery winner Charles Heath, who invites Herb to a remote island for a private gig (Picture: Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Obviously, awkwardness ensues.<\/p>\n<p>And while it\u2019s a simple premise \u2013 and one we\u2019ve seen similar to before \u2013 it\u2019s perfectly executed in the way it allows the film\u2019s characters to really shine as they navigate their evolving relationships with one another.<\/p>\n<p>The humour is constant, with jokes coming thick and fast largely thanks to Key\u2019s Charles, who is charmingly bumbling and wittering; he can\u2019t help himself but to comment on everything and fill every silence, peppering us with a barrage of observations and puns.<\/p>\n<section class=\"metro-comment-cta\">\n<div class=\"metro-comment-cta__inner\"><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text-wrap\"><title>Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">Are you looking forward to The Ballad of Wallis Island?<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>This type of character does read as especially British, but I defy anyone not to be won over by phrases such as <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/judi-dench\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018Dame Judi Drenched\u2019<\/a> and the faint ridiculousness of Charles promising Herb that the lion claw style feet on his bathtub, while impressive, \u2018aren\u2019t real\u2019.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23019274 lazyload\" alt=\"Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer stands awkwardly in a rowing boat by the shore in The Ballad of Wallis Island\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TBOWI_FP_00021-0f7c.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>In development for over 18 years, the film has expanded from a Bafta-nominated short (Picture: Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23019276 lazyload\" alt=\"Tim McKey as Charles Heath beaming and Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer, looking confused, in old-fashioned tennis clothes in The Ballad of Wallis Island\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/TBOWI_FP_00524_R-547c.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>It\u2019s written by Key and Basden, who have worked together in comedy for years, as well as helmed by the short\u2019s original director James Griffiths (Picture: Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>You can only surrender to the pace of the film\u2019s comedy, with the audience at my screening barely stopping laughing the whole way through.<\/p>\n<p>But then Key also beautifully exposes the vulnerability of Charles underneath, adding real poignancy to certain scenes in a gorgeously balanced approach worthy of bagging an Oscar \u2013 if voters can get over their traditional aversion to recognising the type of expertise that goes into a knock-out funny performance.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s the beating heart of The Ballad of Wallis Island but only works as well as he does thanks to the rhythm and flow in the script and between all the characters.<\/p>\n<p>Basden\u2019s Herb is the ideal foil to Key as Charles, grumpy and exasperated, with his reactions providing plenty of laughs and perfectly demonstrating the legacy of the professional relationship the duo has built over years of <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2014\/03\/14\/tim-key-single-white-slut-pithy-poetry-and-eccentric-charm-combined-4575797\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">working together on the comedy scene<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23019271 lazyload\" alt=\"Tim Key as Charles carrying a whiteboard and Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer with a plastic bag, standing behind him by a gate in The Ballad of Wallis Island\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4222_D002_01415_RC-63b1.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Key\u2019s Charles steals the show in a truly Oscar-worthy performance (Picture: Alistair Heap\/Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mulligan is also nicely cast as Nell, providing the grounded, dramatic yin to Key and Basden\u2019s established comedic yang. Nell is thoroughly tickled by Charles, like the audience, which helps Herb start to thaw to him too.<\/p>\n<p>Ndifornyen as Michael is rather abruptly sidelined to keep things at a brisk 99 minutes, but it doesn\u2019t seem a major sacrifice when there\u2019s so much going on with the central trio \u2013 as well as a charming and tentative romance teased for Charles with <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2020\/07\/29\/fleabag-claire-sian-clifford-reveals-which-scene-hated-filming-was-nightmare-pencil-haircut-13054476\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sian Clifford<\/a>\u2019s awkward shopkeeper, Amanda.<\/p>\n<p>Given the name of the film and the occupation of its central characters, the music for The Ballad of Wallis Island is satisfyingly good \u2013 and buyable \u2013 as well. Basden totally convinces as a musical artist and is a pleasure to listen to, while Mulligan excels with lovely harmonies <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2023\/01\/14\/carey-mulligan-is-expecting-third-child-with-husband-marcus-mumford-18100779\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">her husband Marcus Mumford (of Mumford & Sons)<\/a> was able to lend a hand with.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"271\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-23018464 lazyload\" alt=\"Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer, Crey Mulligan as Nell Mortimer and Tim Key as Charles Heath sit around a fire on a stony beach in The Ballad of Wallis Island\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/shutterstock_editorial_15249133c-f8aa.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>Carey Mulligan (C) proves an excellent co-star for Basden \u2013 as Herb\u2019s musical ex \u2013 and Key (Picture: Focus Features)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Composed by Adem Ilhan, the fictional band\u2019s music nestles beautifully among these sorts of acts from the noughties, when Ilhan himself was releasing music; I immediately wanted to hunt down the soundtrack.<\/p>\n<p>The film is the type of clever and specific \u2018silly\u2019 humour you can only get after the years of hard work, love and attention that have evidently been poured into it.<\/p>\n<p>A gloriously British movie, The Ballad of Wallis Island is just a little bit magic \u2013 and thoroughly cast its spell over me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The Ballad of Wallis Island was the opening film at Sands International Film Festival. It\u2019s out in US cinemas now and will release in the UK on Friday, May 30.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Got a story?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\">Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ballad of Walls Island is one of the best films of 2025, and bombards you with jokes throughout (Picture: Alistair Heap\/Focus Features) I\u2019ve been truly bowled over by one of the most relentlessly funny films I\u2019ve seen in The Ballad of Wallis Island. I can\u2019t stop thinking about it after watching it as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1927"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1936,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1927\/revisions\/1936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.scubadiscounters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}