This is a film that you are unlikely to hear about because there are no superheros in it, the Rock and Jason Statham weren't even contacted about being in it, and it had nothing to do with Hollywood.
It has therefore seen a very limited release and only managed $6.4 million at the box office. There are not big names in this one so hopefully they were able to make a bit of a profit so maybe others will make unique and interesting films like this one in the future.
I doubt it though. Now when Disney and Marvel can pump out rehashed retarded superhero films and make 400 million dollars per time.
[src](https://static0.moviewebimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sharedimages/2026/07/has6bnqdqzoi5syccpjwaj2ymbb.jpg?q=70&fit=contain&w=480&dpr=1)The story here is that a popular musician named Herb McGwyer gets booked to do a show on an island that he didn't know existed and he knows very little about the venue. It was a cool $500,000 (it was British Pounds but I don't know how to make that symbol on a keyboard) so even though he is a moody little bastard about doing the gig, he sets out to make it happen.
Things don't start out that great for him when he arrives at the island in a tiny little boat and Herb finds out that there is no pier on this island, and he has to take a "rustic" path to the shore. He immediately falls into the water and ruins his phone and this is one aspect of the film that I really enjoyed. Instead of doing the usual "oh, there's no signal!" they had a reason for why his phone doesn't work and therefore he kind of has to go back in time and use phone booths and talk to people instead of staring at his phone all day long.
The person who has booked him for his concert is local island resident Charles Heath, who is a superfan of Herb's and in particular Charles is a fan of the band Herb was in with his romantic partner in the past.
Charles is eccentric, that's for sure and the actor who plays him (Tim Key) does a wonderful job of playing the role of extremely annoying stranger who actually means really well but just doesn't do so well with understanding things like personal space and knowing when to shut up.
I could kind of feel Herb's frustration with Charles as he politely (at first) and then later not-so-politely tries to tell Charles to piss off and leave him alone. Herb can't really get any personal space because the island has no hotel and Herb's accommodation is a spare bedroom in Charles' house.
The "gig" that he has been booked to play is actually not a gig at all, but just a couple of seats on the beach where Herb will be playing to just a few people.
Things get a bit more strange for Herb, and uncomfortable when Charles lets him know that he also booked Nell Mortimer for the gig, and Nell was previously in a band / duo with Herb and was romantically involved with him.
Charles didn't tell Herb that she would be there, but Charles is very aware of the ill-feelings that the two have for one another and spent this money to hire both of them not just to hear him play, but because he is trying to force them to rectify their bad feelings towards one another.
Some of this works. It works a little too well actually because Herb discovers he is still in love with Nell but Nell has gone off to USA and married someone else, who also accompanied her to the island and now they are all staying in the same house.
Perhaps I am not doing a good job of explaining the story here but this is because in a shell, there isn't much of a story here but this is where very good writers have made up for any lack in an actual plot.
What's going on here is that Charles has won the lottery twice, but he doesn't really have anything to spend the money on. He is a simple man who is content to live a simple life and he is seriously lacking in modern social skills. Herb and to a lessor extent, Nell, have gotten so caught up with being modern and chasing money / fame that they have kind of forgotten what it is like to be human towards another person.
This is something about the film that hit me kind of hard because I think that with all the tech that exists in our own lives these days, that a lot of us have forgotten what it is like to be kind and sociable to other people in our real lives. They don't explicitly state this in the film, but I think that is the real message here.
Good acting and a touching story aside, another aspect of this movie that is really nice is that the music, if you like poetic folk music, is fantastic in this movie and all the songs and music was written and performed by the actor who is playing Herb and his name is Tom Basden.
The book and screenplay was written by the actors that play Charles and Herb, and they are the producers of this as well. This was quite clearly a labor of love for the two of them and I think that is why the film is so good. There isn't any sort of corporate interest here and making super tons of money maybe wasn't the idea when they were making this in the first place.
I looked it up and the entire film cost 1.5 million USD to make and they completed the filming in just 18 days in Wales. Of course the film was largely ignored by the cinemas of the world, because it seems as though they are completely disinterested in anything other than the same ol' same ol' slop films out of Hollywood.
Should I watch it?
I think so, absolutely. But it kind of depends on what sort of person you are. No offense, but if Marvel movies and anything with Dwayne Johnson in it are things you tend to enjoy you may find this movie dull because in the 90 minutes or so that it is on, there isn't a single explosion and zero CGI robot characters. I have a difficult time not being a bit of a dick when I say things like this but this is only because I basically despise a vast majority of all films that have seen mass-release in the past 20 years or so.
This film will require your attention because they aren't going to remind you about the plot every 15 minutes in order to accommodate someone that is actually scrolling social media, and sort of watching a film at the same time. This is an intelligent comedy, with some real life and love lessons built in. It has an important message in there as well, but not in a preachy way.
This was one of my favorite films of 2026 and I consider it a true, hidden gem of a movie
