The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023)

Summary: Harold Fry has recently retired from brewery management, and one day at breakfast he receives a letter from Queenie Hennessy who, he tells his wife, was a friend from his days at the brewery. Queenie is dying of cancer in a hospice in Berwick on Tweed. Harold writes a note to Queenie but on the way to the post box has a conversation with a girl in a petrol station, which suggests to him that he should walk to Berwick. He phones the hospice to say that he is on his way and starts his journey, without prior preparation. His wife, left at home wonders what is going on. After he falls down exhausted on a road, he is helped by a mid European immigrant. Later when photographed by a journalist he collects a following, but has to discard them when they slow his progress. Within sight of his destination he loses heart, but is encouraged to finish the journey by his wife.

Content: No sex or nudity. However Harold has many flashbacks during the journey most involving his son who becomes a victim of drug and alcohol abuse, finally committing suicide. Harold is sometimes seen in the company of others who are drinking beer. In further flashbacks we find that after the death of his son, Harold destroyed beer kegs in the brewery in a drunken rage, and Queenie took the blame, losing her job. It turns out that after the death of their son, Harold and his wife became estranged.

A View:  If we believe the IMDb box office figures, this film has not made any money although moderately well liked by the critics who viewed it. Unfortunately I have a bit of a logical view of everything I read and see, so I have a problem with Harold’s ability to walk the distance. Since according to his wife he had never walked anywhere, and is 65. And he is still wearing the same shoes. Not a chance. I also had some problems with the beer keg event. Also, even though he is on the road for more than two months, we only very occasionally know where he is which is frustrating. So maybe a watch for nothing when it is on TV. On the plus side, it is family viewing.

I looked through the films I have reviewed to see is there is anything similar, i.e. low budget folksy and British. Top of the list The Last Bus, also check out The Children Act and The Lost King.