The Magic Faraway Tree
In Simon Farnaby’s charmless farce, three spoiled siblings discover a whole new world in the countryside when they are unable to use their electronic devices.
Supercalorific: In the Land of Goodies.
Image courtesy of Entertainment Film Dists.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Trees really are the most magical organisms. Besides their ability to provide ecosystems for all sorts of species and to communicate with other life forms through their roots, they collectively have the ability to re-oxygenate the planet. Yet, in this adaptation of Enid Blyton’s book series, young Beth Thompson (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) announces, “Trees are literally the most boring thing in the world.” So, isn’t she in for a shock? While Enid Blyton wrote her first story in the franchise in 1939, the scenarist Simon Farnaby (Wonka, Paddington in Peru) has chosen to set his film in the present, when the need for real magic is more crucial than ever. Even after stay-at-home dad Tim Thompson (Andrew Garfield) pronounces, “no devices at the table!”, his kids ignore him, plug in, turn on and zone out. In exasperation he asks his wife Polly (Claire Foy), “have you met your children lately? I feel their childhood is slipping away…”
But Polly is off tinkering with her latest invention, an intelligent fridge that sounds like Judi Dench. However, when she discovers that it is spying on its customers, she hands in her notice, relinquishing her salary, the company car and most significantly the family home. Forever an optimist, Tim turns to a ledger of dreams they once cooked up together in their courting days, one of which was to live off the land – in the countryside. So, they pool their resources and buy a property in the West Country for £20,000. Needless to say, this doesn’t go down well with their three children, particularly when the kids discover that their dream house is a barn without electricity or Wi-Fi.
All this sounded not only promising material for a Blyton update but extremely pertinent for our times, particularly when we realise how much magic Nature really does have to offer. But then it all goes downhill, when the youngest, eight-year-old Fran (Billie Gadsdon), starts seeing fairies in the nearby enchanted wood and gets her voice back after months of silence. What this crass and cartoonish tale actually lacks is magic, as the inhabitants of the eponymous tree feel like they’ve been plucked from some ghastly reality TV show. The default mode is much exaggeration, over-acting, eye-bulging and very loud shouting, which becomes unbearable after two minutes. And the magic lands contained within this arboreal palace display all the wonders of a cheap morning children’s show, one location being a Wonka-style garden of giant sweets, presumably designed to mirror the sugar rush of the young cinemagoers around me.
The year has already witnessed many strange sights cinematically, but the vision of Rebecca Ferguson as a witch snarling ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic,’ will be a hard one to expunge. Or the sight of three knights of the realm – Lenny Henry, Michael Palin and Simon Russell Beale – sharing a giant beard. Oh, lordy. The film also has fun endorsing the speed at which the Thompson kids are allowed to wolf down their food and to repeatedly disobey their parents. And it’s a sign of the desperation of the filmmakers that Isabella Summers’ bombastic score is allowed to run unchecked, while at least four different characters sarcastically employ the adjective “fine!” This is lazy writing and there’s really nothing fine about it at all.
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nonso Anozie, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning, Jennifer Saunders, Rebecca Ferguson, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Billie Gadsdon, Phoenix Laroche, Dustin Demri-Burns, Mark Heap, Oliver Chris, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Hiran Abeysekera, Simon Farnaby, Claire Keelan, and the voice of Judi Dench.
Dir Ben Gregor, Pro Pippa Harris, Nicholas Brown, Danny Perkins and Jane Hooks, Screenplay Simon Farnaby, Ph Zac Nicholson, Pro Des Alexandra Walker, Ed Gary Dollner, Music Isabella Summers, Costumes Ann Maskrey, Sound Brad Rees.
Ashland Hill Media Finance/Neal Street Productions/Elysian Film Group-Entertainment Film Dists Ltd.
110 mins. UK/USA. 2026. UK Rel: 27 March 2026. Cert. U.
