The Magic Faraway Tree, 2026.
Directed by Ben Gregor.
Starring Billie Gadsdon, Nicola Coughlan, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Phoenix Laroche, Nonso Anozie, Andrew Garfield, Rebecca Ferguson, Claire Foy, Jessica Gunning, Dustin Demri-Burns, Jennifer Saunders, Simon Farnaby, Claire Keelan, Oliver Chris, Hiran Abeysekera, Judi Dench, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Mark Heap, Tom Meeten, Sonny Meo, Iain Johnstone, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin, and Simon Russell Beale.
SYNOPSIS:
A modern family relocates to the countryside where the children discover a magical tree with eccentric residents. They’re transported to fantastical lands, rekindling their family bond through adventures.
Based on a series of books by Enid Blyton adapted here by Simon Farnaby, director Ben Gregor’s The Magic Faraway Tree is a splashy, cozy, and cutesy plea for imagination and familial connection in the face of isolating and addictive technology. Considering that Disney live-action remakes account for a significant portion of their output and turn out to be pointless, inferior imitations, part of the charm here also comes from a family-friendly film that is thematically in conversation with this year’s Toy Story 5. Granted, this did not happen intentionally, but it is nonetheless more proof that remakes shouldn’t be shot-for-shot lazy redos, and that with some creativity and thoughtfulness, such themes can be applied across a wide range of stories.
The Thompson family are at an impasse. Neither parent – Andrew Garfield’s Tim and Claire Foy’s Polly – is currently fulfilled with life. The latter has just impulsively quit her job after discovering that a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench, nonetheless, in an amusing cameo) she helped design had been equipped with security cameras. As for the kids of various ages, they’re all hooked on one form of technology or another. As such, Tom suggests they take a page out of their dream book (quite literally in this instance, as there is a book of ambitious dreams) and move to a countryside home where they can work on realizing more once-upon-a-time goal of creating, perfecting, and selling their own brand of tomato sauce.
Upon arriving there, it turns out the home is more or less a spacious barn with no Wi-Fi. The goofy landlord, struggling with English, also does not understand what that is. The kids are mad about it, no matter how much Tim and Polly insist that there is beauty and magic in these woods. It also turns out, as the title implies, that there is magic, as the youngest child, Fran (Billie Gadsdon), finds herself transported into a fantastical world after returning to a spot where she handed someone their purse back. That person was actually a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), happy to have company, as is the rest of the quirky, idiosyncratic residents of this magical land.
They consist of the group’s leader, Moonface (Nonso Anozie), who has a fitting headpiece to go along with the name, and others such as Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning) – the clue is in the name as to what she spends most of her days unfortunately doing, gradually learning not to be so subservient – and Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), covered in saucepans as the name suggests making for one hell of a costuming feat (not to mention working around all the clanging when working on the sound mixing);. Nevertheless, every day the titular magic tree takes these enchanted characters to a new world, which serves as both a showcase for some of the impressively detailed production design (to go with those elaborate, detailed costumes, especially for a kids movie) and imagination. As in most films like this, they fear that no matter how fun and fantastical these lands are, the children will outgrow it and leave them behind.
Naturally, when Fran returns home – to the frantic nerves of her parents not knowing where she has been for hours – she encourages her older sister Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) and Joe (Phoenix Laroche) to join her next time, both of whom are convinced she is crazy. Being the oldest, Beth isn’t as easily dazzled, even by literal magic, but the sibling trio enters and is taken to a new world while meeting these fantasy characters. Without directly spoiling, they generally feel straight out of a Roald Dahl book and, as mentioned, benefit from painstaking craftsmanship on top of amusing ideas for what to have the children do in them.
Admittedly, these segments are such a burst of wonder that the rest of the familiar family-friendly drama, which is at least half of the movie, can’t compare, even if it does have Andrew Garfield acting cringe, leaning into silly self-awareness of how nutty a father’s character is. There is also a villain in the magical realm, played by Rebecca Ferguson, in a thankless role that exists only to conjure peril during a climax that is already entertaining and moving, given what the children are trying to accomplish: to bring the family fully together and secure the tomato sauce dream. It doesn’t need an antagonist, who gets roughly five minutes of screen time, although the costume design once again pops.
Nevertheless, that story is a touching, relevant one with inspired magic. Given how much is accomplished here with practical effects, The Magic Faraway Tree comes across as a relic of 1980s/90s family fare; the filmmakers are determined not to rely on the technology the narrative actively dismisses to achieve its imaginative vision. The short of it is that the film itself has enough magic to be considered enchanting.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
