Buy tickets: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/thamecinema
Future films:
Saturday, 7th February, 8pm: special screening in aid of the Mayor’s charities. Tickets £10 to include a £5 donation
The Ballad of Wallis Island
UK 2025, 100 minutes, 12 certificate
Directed by James Griffiths, Starring Tom Basden, Tim Key, Carey Mulligan
This year’s fundraiser for the Mayor’s charity is one of the highlights of 2025.
Wallis Island is small, sparse and largely uninhabited but for a tiny handful of occupants. One of these occupants – the uber-eccentric and socially awkward Charles – actually owns the whole place. Charles is a fan of a folk duo called McGwyer Mortimer, who had a moment back in the noughties. But he’s not just a regular fan; he is the super-est of super-fans, finding it impossible to reconcile himself with the fact that the duo, Herb and Nell – once a romantic as well as a musical partnership – have parted ways and, in Nell’s case at least, stopped recording. He decides to do what he can to bring them back together, offering a large wodge of cash for them to come and perform a private gig on Wallis Island. Charles omits to point out that the audience will be small. Well, it’s and audience of one – just Charles. What could possibly go wrong?
Herb, nurturing ambitions to relaunch his career with more serious, edgy stuff, is keen; Nell, now married and making chutney for a Portland farmers’ market, is a little more sceptical but could do with the cash. And of course, it’s not just about the band for Charles; there are other reasons for his passionate attachment to this particular duo and the music they created.
Griffiths’ film, co-written by Basden and Key, is a funny, melancholy very British comedy, dry, poignant, eccentric. Dealing with self-delusion, social anxiety, grief, pride and humility, laugh out loud funny but with deep sympathy for its well-rounded protagonists, this is an absolute treat, a small but huge hit, its accolades as a return to the best of British film making richly deserved. Watch the trailer here.
Fri 13th Feb, 8pm: My Favourite Cake (cert 12)
A gentle, romantic comedy set in Tehran where 70-year-old Mahin lives alone since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. But as Mahin opens herself up to new romance, what begins as an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unpredictable, unforgettable evening.
