The Creative Harmony of The Ballad of Wallis Island 

The Sundance Film Festival recently announced that it will be relocating from Park City to Boulder, Colorado in 2027, which has been a sad announcement in Utah, so a pick me up is much needed for local cinephiles. If you’re looking for a Sundance fix, you can get it this weekend as one of the festival’s most critically acclaimed films, The Ballad of Wallis Island, opens in theaters. This whimsical comedy about an eccentric lottery winner attempting to reunite his favorite band is a poignant exploration of loss, nostalgia, isolation, moving on and the human need for connection. Tom Basden and Tim Key, beloved figures in the British comedy scene who performed together in the sketch group Cowards, wrote and star in the film directed by James Griffiths.

“I think we’d have written a very similar film even if we hadn’t been fortunate enough to have a lockdown, but I feel like probably subconsciously that was happening,”

“We’ve talked about it in other interviews, just how fantastic it was to be on stage and feel that incredible reaction,” Basden says of the thunderous standing ovation at the Sundance premiere on January 25 at the Eccles Center. An expansion of the 2007 The One and Only Herb McWyer Plays Wallis Island, the new film is a realization of Basden, Key and Griffiths’ long-time dream of not only reuniting on a project, but revisiting the story that they had such a fondness for and fleshing it out together. “I think the first thing is that we just really, really love working together over the years,” Basden says. “Since James moved to America, Tim and I would keep working together occasionally, maybe one project a year, but we always felt like we wanted to make something together — something that was really ours. We loved these characters and this world and felt there was a bigger story to tell. It just took us a long time to unlock it.”

Key echoes that sentiment. It was during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic that they found the time and focus to dive into developing The Ballad of Wallis Island, and though the story itself wasn’t inspired by the experience, no one denies that it had an influence. “I think we’d have written a very similar film even if we hadn’t been fortunate enough to have a lockdown, but I feel like probably subconsciously that was happening,” Key says wryly. “One theme is that my character, Charles, just keeps on listening to the same band. He’s stuck in the past. During lockdown, I found myself doing the same thing — re-watching Columbo, Blackadder, all these things that felt cozy and familiar.” That sense of isolation and nostalgia became integral to the story. “I think in some ways, lockdown did have a big influence on the film, because we thought we might have to film in under the same conditions,” Key says. “It kept us focused on the purest, most essential [aspects], so that we were confident that we could tell it even if those restrictions were still in place.”

“To support them, to put the best of them on the screen, and to set them up for success. I’ve been lucky enough to be in their orbit for 20 years… I’ve had the privilege of having a front row seat watching my best friends do their thing on screen.”

Key plays Charles, the enthusiastic yet socially awkward lottery winner, who arranges a one night only gig reuniting folk music duo McGwyer and Mortimer — lovers Herb McGwyer and Elle Mortimer (played by Basden and Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan) — for a private show on Wallis Island off the coast of Wales, for an audience of “less than hundred people” — specifically, ninety-nine. An obsessive and zealous fan, Charles can be a bit hard to handle, especially for Herb, who comes to the island expecting to stay in a hotel and do a solo show, only to find himself in the awkward situation of staying as a guest in the home of the constant hovering Charles, and being unexpectedly reunited with Elle, whom he’s never gotten over. “I’ve never met anyone quite like Charles,” Key says. The actor and comedian, known for his portrayal of talk show ‘Sidekick Simon’ on Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, has never personally experienced being overwhelmed by an obsessive fan. “I’m very lucky. When someone approaches me and says they’re familiar with my work, it’s usually a pleasure,” Key says, noting that he does frequently have people come over to talk to him at pubs. “But Charles isn’t a bad person. There’s no malevolence or anything like that. Charles is really a nice person, but he would be quite difficult to deal with at the bar, I must say.” For Griffiths, Who goes by “Griff,” directing Basden and Key felt like a natural extension of their long running partnership. “I felt my job was very simple,” Griffiths says. “To support them, to put the best of them on the screen, and to set them up for success. I’ve been lucky enough to be in their orbit for 20 years… I’ve had the privilege of having a front row seat watching my best friends do their thing on screen. It doesn’t get much better than that.” Griffiths describes his role as a facilitator rather than a traditional auteur. “They’d written such a strong roadmap, and my job was to guide them while making sure the camera didn’t get in the way of the story. It was about being instinctive, feeling the emotions with the camera and letting their dynamic shine,” Griffiths says.

Basden credits Griffiths’ keen understanding of tone as crucial to the film’s success. “The tone is everything in a film like this. If we got it wrong, the whole thing would start to fall apart,” Basden says. “But Griff just instinctively knew how it needed to feel and that’s what makes the film so distinctive.”

As the film finally hits a wide release, the trio are at least sharing their vision with the world, and doing it together. The Ballad of Wallis Island is not just a comedy about a one man clinging to the past while another tries to run from it; it’s a heartfelt meditation on human connection,  wrapped in an offbeat, beautifully crafted package. And for Basden, Key and Griffiths, it’s a testament to the enduring power of artistic collaboration.

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