The Ballad of Wallis Island: release date and what we know

Carey Mulligan and Tom Basden in The Ballad of Wallis Island (Image credit: Alistair Heap/Focus Features)

What happens when an oddball fan invites his favorite musician to his isolated island? That’s what we’ll find out in the indie comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island, a 2025 new movie starring Carey Mulligan, Tom Basden and Tim Key.

A 2025 Sundance Film Festival selection, The Ballad of Wallis Island fits right in with the types of indie movies that the festival has known to make popular. But only time will tell if it will have the same kind of success that movies like Little Miss Sunshine, CODA or A Real Pain have had after first showing at Sundance.

Here is everything you need to know about The Ballad of Wallis Island.

The Ballad of Wallis Island release date

The Ballad of Wallis Island is now playing exclusively in select US movie theaters. After an initial opening just in Los Angeles and New York, the movie has expanded to additional markets starting April 3, including Austin, Texas, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C..

For those in the UK it's a bit longer wait, as The Ballad of Wallis Island is scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 30.

The Ballad of Wallis Island cast

As mentioned, the stars of The Ballad of Wallis Island are Tom Basden as Herb McGwyer, Tim Key as Charles and Carey Mulligan as Nell Mortimer.

Mulligan is the most recognizable name of the leading trio, as she is a three-time Oscar-nominated actress for movies like An Education, Promising Young Woman and Maestro.

Tom Basden and Tim Key are less likely to be known to US audiences, but they are known commodities in the UK, with Basden most notably starring in shows like After Life and Here We Go, while Key has had supporting roles in movies like See How They Run and Wicked Little Letters.

Also appearing in the movie are Sian Clifford (Fleabag, Young Woman and the Sea) and Akemnji Ndifornyen (Catherine Called Birdy, The Queen’s Gambit).

The Ballad of Wallis Island plot

The Ballad of Wallis Island is based on a short film written by Basden and Key, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island. So this is a feature film adaptation of that short, once again written by Basden and Key. Here is the official synopsis:

“The Ballad of Wallis Island follows Charles, an eccentric lottery winner who lives alone on a remote island and dreams of getting his favorite musicians, Mortimer-McGwyer back together. His fantasy quickly turns into reality when the bandmates and former lovers accept his invitation to play a private show at his home on Wallis Island. Old tensions resurface as Charles tries desperately to salvage his dream gig.”

The Ballad of Wallis Island reviews

The Ballad of Wallis Island has received great reviews, as it sits at a "Certified Fresh" score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes as of April 3.

The Ballad of Wallis Island trailer

Watch the charming trailer for The Ballad of Wallis Island right here:

THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 28 - YouTube

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The Ballad of Wallis Island director

In addition to Basden and Key returning to turn their short into a feature-length movie, so is the short’s original director, James Griffiths. This is only the second feature-length movie that Griffiths has directed in his career — and the first since 2014’s Cuban Fury — but he has been consistently working in TV, directing episodes of notable shows like Black-ish, A Million Little Things, Stumptown, Death and Other Details and, most recently, Bad Sisters season 2.

The Ballad of Wallis Island behind the scenes

Basden and Key received a number of awards for their The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, as it was nominated for Best Short Film at the BAFTAs in 2007.

As for who is helping to bring The Ballad of Wallis Island to the big screen, Basden, Key, Mulligan and Griffiths are all producers on the movie, along with Rupert Majendie, Sarah Monteith, Laurence Brown, Stephen Kellier and Yana Georgieva. Focus Features is the US studio behind the movie, while BBC Studios and Baby Cow Productions served as its primary production companies.