Much like the similarly rural Wales-set BRIAN & CHARLES, THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND is an elliptical, low-key and bittersweet tale of lost souls finding meaning. Rich superfan Charles (Tim Key) underhandedly reunites former musical and romantic partners Herb (Tom Basden) and Nell (Carey Mulligan) for a private gig on a remote Welsh island, and things get awkward and emotionally fraught rather quickly from there. Director James Griffiths, Key and Basden have expanded and developed their short film from almost 20 years ago, recruited Mulligan for a little star power and come up with an album’s worth of melancholy folk songs worthy of these characters. There are many neat, comforting, crowd-pleasing ways this film could go if it was a conventional Hollywood romcom, but this goes to some much darker places and largely refuses to indulge convention. This is a warm but unsentimental, romantic but grounded, poignant and witty sort-of musical. SSP