ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL
Youth
A reflective, visually sumptuous meditation on aging, creativity, and the fleeting nature of glory. Set at a luxurious Alpine spa, two lifelong friends — a retired composer and a legendary filmmaker — contemplate their past achievements and future irrelevance while surrounded by eccentric guests, surreal visions, and unexpected emotional revelations. Funny, wistful, and dreamlike, it's a film about life’s second act and the art of letting go.
Director
Paolo Sorrentino
Actors
Michael Caine • Harvey Keitel • Rachel Weisz • Paul Dano • Jane Fonda
2h 4m • Rated M • Drama, Comedy • Italy/UK (2015)
The island setting, the modest production, and the humor that often arises from character rather than contrivance work together to keep the film from ever feeling flat. On the flip side, a few feel the pacing is uneven, or that the secondary characters don’t always land. Still, even these criticisms tend to be soft and in the service of a film that is more heartwarming than perfect.
Overall, the consensus sees The Ballad of Wallis Island as a warm, wistful, and soul-soothing film—modest in scope but rich in feeling. It’s not trying to dazzle, but it digs in where it matters: loss, memory, music, human connection. For many, it’s one of the more emotionally satisfying films of 2025.
The Ballad of Wallis Island is a quietly charming British comedy-drama directed by James Griffiths, written by and starring Tom Basden and Tim Key, alongside Carey Mulligan. The story centers on Charles, a lonely lottery winner living on a remote Welsh island, who invites his favorite folk duo—Herb McGwyer and Nell Mortimer—to reunite for a private performance. His motive isn’t just fandom; there are unresolved heartbreaks, nostalgia, and grief behind his idealistic gesture.
Critics are largely enamored with the film’s balance of humor and melancholy. Tim Key’s performance as Charles is praised for being endearingly awkward, verbose, and heart-on-sleeve, often using verbal wit to stave off silence. Basden as Herb, and Mulligan as Nell, deliver subtle, emotionally resonant performances, especially when the old romantic and artistic tensions surface—and you begin to feel what’s been lost, as well as what hope might remain. The original music is another highlight; the songs feel lived in, and the film uses them not as spectacle, but as emotional anchors.
Some reviewers point out that the premise is familiar—a fan’s devotee, reunited artists, romantic regrets—but argue that the execution elevates it.
CRITICS ROUNDUP
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Youth
Sat 10 Jan 8:00pm ncp
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The resort is populated by colourful characters interpreted by prestigious actors in highly amusing scenarios. Sorrentino is known for his technical sophistication, and here, every frame is composed with a visual and musical sensibility that elevates him to the very elite of contemporary cinema. It is obvious why he is so often compared to Fellini, and here, the Spa setting and existential crisis are clearly a homage to 8 ½. It was Sorrentino’s second English-language film, and it is executed with philosophy, humour, and exquisite craft, a treat for those seeking an English-language film at the Italian Festival. Paolo Rotondo
Critics Roundup
Melancholic, stylish, and deeply humane
Oscar-winning Director, Paolo Sorrentino presents an elegiac ode to music, art, cinema and the inescapability of time. Michael Caine is Fred Ballinger, a retired Composer, who joins his film director friend Mick Boyle (Harvey Keitel) in a Swiss Alpine Spa. Their friendship is touching and hilariously drawn as they discuss love, life, art and their increasingly less active prostates. An emissary from Buckingham Palace arrives to invite the Composer to perform for the Queen, but Ballinger refuses.