I cried twice: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry reviewed

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is an excellent adaptation of Rachel Joyce’s bestselling novel (2012) about a retired old fella who traverses England on foot in the belief he can save a friend dying of cancer. It could have been twee or sentimental (that was the fear) but instead it is spare and restrained and while there are occasional jarring moments it is still wonderfully tender and full of feeling. I cried, possibly twice, but I don‘t think it was three times, whatever anyone might say.

The film is directed by Hettie Macdonald (Normal People) with a screenplay by Joyce and it stars Jim Broadbent in a role that has ‘Jim Broadbent’ written all over it even if Timothy Spall could have had a crack at it, to be fair. Broadbent plays Harold while his wife, Maureen, is played by Penelope Wilton, who is also inevitable casting of the kind that’s ideal. Harold and Maureen live in suburban Devon with net curtains and unironic china dogs and the peach carpets she seems to vacuum daily (a Miele; wise choice). Nothing is spelled out – the script is astutely bare – but we understand that the marriage is grimly frigid and has suffered from what hasn’t been said down the years.

Then, one morning, Harold receives a letter from his old workmate, Queenie (Linda Bassett). She’s in a hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed and is saying goodbye. He writes a postcard in reply, walks to one postbox, then the next, then decides to keep on walking, he doesn’t know why. As long as he keeps walking, Queenie will live, he thinks. He’ll save her, although, of course, he is actually saving himself, even if it’s not something he could ever consciously recognise.