Directed by Hettie Macdonald (White Girl (2008); Normal People (2020, tv series); Fortitude (2015-17, tv series)) and starring Jim Broadbent (Iris (2002); The Duke (2022); The Iron Lady (2011); Gangs of New York (2002)), Penelope Wilton (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011); The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018); Downton Abbey (2019);  Match Point (2005)), Earl Cave (Alex Rider (2020); True History of the Kelly Gang (2019)), Daniel Frogson (The Last Bus (2022); His Dark Materials (2019, tv series)) and Monika Gossmann (Mank (2020); The Staircase (2022)).

Drama; 108 mins; 6+

With echoes of the 2022 film The Last Bus by Gillies MacKinnon and starring Timothy Spall, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is based on the book of the same name (2023).

Harold (Jim Broadbent) is an unassuming, ordinary man who lives a quiet life in a south-coast English town (in Devon) along with his wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton). One day he receives a letter from a former friend and work colleague, Queenie, who is seeing out her final days in a hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed in the north-east of England, almost at the Scottish border.

He composes a reply and goes out to post the letter; however, after talking to someone at a filling station, he decides to walk all the way to visit Queenie, over 600 kilometres. What started out was a walk to get some milk and post a letter turned out to be a form of a pilgrimage during which Harold reflected on his life and family, including his son David (Earl Cave) who appears in flashbacks. It also included meeting a number of people along the way, including Wilf (Daniel Frogson) and Martina (Monika Gossmann), both characters in their own way.

Harold telephones his wife from call boxes every so often; he does not have much money and sometimes stays in BnBs, while other times he sleeps in barns or out in the open, just with a sleeping bag. He talks with people along the way and is featured on the news, thereafter being recognised by strangers.

An emotional rollercoaster, with plenty of ups and downs, including Harold's mood: sometimes he is very driven in his quest while other times he is down-heartened and close to giving up. But the audience follows his endeavours as the background to his life is uncovered and laid bare.

Currently being screened by Kinepolis in Luxembourg.