The Ballad of Wallis Island (2025)

Charles Heath has won the lottery twice, and he spends a fortune on a private folk concert where he is the entire audience and the stage is a pallet on the beach. The movie wrings real warmth out of that ridiculous setup without ever going soggy. The will-they-or-won’t-they thread between Herb and his old partner Nell is the most predictable part, and Nell’s husband Michael is mostly there to move the plot. Tim Key plays Charles, an eccentric widowed superfan who greets Herb with his favorite apples and keeps a fake lock of Nell’s hair in his collection. Tom Basden’s Herb is a prickly musician with a stalled solo career, and Carey Mulligan’s Nell now sells chutney at farmers’ markets in Oregon. When the old duo finally rehearse their songs for Charles, his face says everything. It holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. An 8.5 because it’s funny, gentle and quietly heartbreaking. $9.03 says you look up what it costs to book your favorite musician for a private show, then count how many lottery tickets that would take.

What works: Tim Key and Tom Basden make a lovely odd couple, and the film finds big feelings in a tiny, very funny premise.

What doesn’t: The romantic history between Herb and Nell is the most predictable thread, and Nell’s husband Michael never becomes more than a device.

Who it’s for: Anyone who has ever loved a band a little too much, and fans of gentle British comedy.