The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (film)

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is a 2023 British drama film directed by Hettie Macdonald. It is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Rachel Joyce. The film stars Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was released in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2023, by eOne. It was the last film to be distributed by Entertainment One in the United Kingdom before the distributor's UK division was shut down on 20 July 2023.

Plot
Retired pensioner Harold Fry lives in Kingsbridge in south Devon with his wife Maureen, where he lives a sedentary life. A letter from an old colleague, Queenie Hennessy, reveals she is dying from cancer and is living in a hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Penning a perfunctory response, he complains that the words he has written are not enough of a response but, lacking ideas, he goes to post them anyway. Finding himself still reluctant to release the letter he continues walking into town, passing multiple opportunities to send the letter, before finding himself in a petrol garage where the attendant tells him that her support helped her aunt fight back against her own cancer. Inspired, he calls the hospice and asks them to tell Queenie that he intends to walk to Berwick - some 500 miles - and she must hold onto her life until he arrives.

Realising Harold is not returning, Maureen is at first worried, then when he calls her to inform her of his plan, she reacts angrily. Eventually, she reveals to her neighbour Rex that following several years of rocky relationship, she fears he has taken the opportunity to finally walk out on their marriage - something she admits she had almost done numerous times in the past.

After several days of travel, Harold begins to suffer flashbacks and hallucinations of his son, David. Suffering a tempestuous relationship, in his early adult years David spurned Harold's parenting and their relationship broke down. After collapsing in the road, Harold is taken in by Martina, a Slovakian doctor who emigrated to the UK but is now unable to find any other work than cleaning. She treats his feet, which are now covered in sores and infected blisters, and allows him to recuperate in her house for several days. Meanwhile she reveals that her partner left her for another woman a year ago, and she still waits for him to return every day. Though Harold does not feel himself equal to her hospitality, she tells him that his refusal to accept bitter truths lying down humbles her, and she sends him on his way with several pieces of walking kit left by her former partner.

Harold's journey continues for several weeks, with Harold continuing to meet strangers and humble them with his selfless spirit. Stopping for a drink in a pub, one patron asks to take his picture as a keepsake. The photo makes its way to the media and he rapidly becomes a national sensation, though Harold has no knowledge of the story. Shortly after, Harold is joined by Wilf, an eighteen-year-old junkie who was inspired by his story and wants to walk to save Queenie too. As more media outlets pick up the story, several dozen more individuals join him and collectively adopt the moniker of 'Pilgrim', though Harold seems bemused by their presence and struggles to understand why they are fascinated by him. Maureen and Rex also travel up to visit Harold, though when Harold invites Maureen to join his walk she responds in frustration that she is unable to let go of the things holding her back in the way he has.

The camp, though continuing to grow and fostering a genuine camaderie amongst the Pilgrims, slowly becomes something of a circus and is by now making barely any progress towards Berwick. Harold's memories of his son continue, and after Wilf flees the camp after being caught raiding Harold's supplies and carrying pills, Harold recalls David's own descent into drug-taking. In a discussion with another Pilgrim he tells her of how he watched his son deteriorate before he took his own life in their garage. The Pilgrim helps Harold to accept that he needs to leave the camp behind to reach his destination.

Now alone, Harold's mental state declines as he fears the end of the journey will result in the same loss as he suffered with David, and he eventually phones Maureen from a phone booth to tell her that he has no idea where he is and that he wants to come home. Maureen, having had time to come to terms with her own feelings, instead informs him that he is only 18 miles from Berwick and that he must finish his journey. She also reveals to him that she never passed on Queenie's final message to him some 25 years earlier. Believing that he was to blame for David's death and the resulting near-collapse of his marriage, Harold had turned to drink and had determined to engineer ways of punishing himself further. He had therefore driven to his place of work at night and destroyed much of their stock, intending on being fired for his actions. Instead, Queenie had found him first and had taken the blame for the damage, being dismissed in his place but allowing him to rebuild his life. Some time later she had driven to Harold and Maureen's house while he was out to tell him that she was moving away and to tell him not to blame himself for everything that had come to pass. Maureen, feeling spiteful for the way that he was receiving comfort where she had none and perhaps suspecting an affair, had refused to pass on the message, but finally lets him hear it.

Shortly afterwards, Harold reaches Berwick. He initially struggles to summon the nerve to enter the hospice but when he does, then he is enthusiastically greeted by the nun he has spoken to on the phone on several occasions, who leads him in to greet Queenie but warns him that she is no longer able to speak. Something of a taciturn man, Harold finds himself unable to say much to her but hangs up a quartz pendant that he has brought from near the start of his journey in her window.

When meeting Maureen again in Berwick, Harold confesses defeat, implying that Queenie did not live long after his arrival and telling Maureen that he doesn't understand how he thought that he could save her when he could not save David. She responds by telling him that his devotion to Queenie has helped her remember the man she used to love and that his actions have saved their marriage. Meanwhile, the various people who Harold and his story touched along the pilgrimage are shown looking at light reflected around them, and smiling.

Cast

 * Jim Broadbent as Harold Fry
 * Adam Jackson-Smith as young Harold Fry
 * Penelope Wilton as Maureen Fry
 * Bethan Cullinane as young Maureen Fry
 * Linda Bassett as Queenie Hennessy
 * Joseph Mydell as Rex
 * Earl Cave as David Fry
 * Monika Gossman as Martina
 * Maanuv Thiara as Mick
 * Nina Singh as Garage Girl
 * Daniel Frogson as Wilf
 * Naomi Wirthner as Kate
 * Claire Rushbrook as Farmer’s wife
 * Ian Porter as Jim the Oncologist
 * Joy Richardson as Sister Philomena
 * Sam Lee as Singer

Production
The project was directed by Hettie Macdonald, with Kate McCullough as director of photography, production design by Christina Moore, and costume design by Sarah Blenkinsop. The film was produced by Kevin Loader, Juliet Dowling and Marilyn Milgrom, and was developed with Film4 and the BFI; financing was arranged by Embankment Films and provided by the BFI and Ingenious. It was the biggest investment made in new film by the BFI in 2021.

Casting
Broadbent joined the project to play Harold in February 2021. Broadbent had previously also voiced the audiobook. He also previously worked with the author of the book when she worked as an actress, Joyce had played Perdita to his Leontes in a production of The Winter’s Tale at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 1987. Penelope Wilton joined the project in June 2021.

Filming
Filming took place mainly on location to match Harold’s walk in the story. Filming began in Devon in September 2021. Devon filming locations included Kingsbridge, Loddiswell, South Brent, Higher Dean, Buckfast, Exeter, Tiverton and Appledore. Filming also took place in Bath, Somerset, and Gloucestershire, Ripley, Derbyshire as well as on the border between Wakefield and Dewsbury, and Sheffield, Yorkshire. Other locations include Darlington, Harrogate, South Stainey, Skipton-On-Swale, and Northallerton.

Soundtrack
A soundtrack featuring music and original songs from the film was released featuring two original songs written and performed by Sam Lee.

Release
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was released in the United Kingdom on 28 April 2023, by eOne. It was the last film to be distributed by Entertainment One in the United Kingdom before the distributor's UK division was shut down on 20 July 2023.

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry holds an approval rating of 83% based on 29 critic reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "If The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry follows a well-worn path, having Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton as guides makes it difficult to complain."

Deborah Ross for The Spectator described it as an “incredibly beautiful film to look at” and that “Broadbent is a wonder, so real and sincere it doesn't feel like acting...and Wilton equals him”. Ross concluded that “this may even be one of those rare instances where the film is better than the book.” Kevin Maher in The Times described it as “immediately one of the great movies about ageing and regret” with director Macdonald a “secret weapon” whose “return to cinema is something to be celebrated”. Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian was more critical of the suspension of reality required with the plot, saying that whilst it was “impeccably acted, sincerely intended and often beautifully shot” there was something “unsatisfying” in the “solemn, self-conscious fantasy”.