You know when you hear a song and it transports you back to an era or a memory or a moment? It’s this involuntary mental reflex that can be marvelous, painful, or some combination of the two; all intensified by the emotion of the music that triggers it. This familiar phenomenon provides the backbeat for The Ballad of Wallis Island, a comedy that envelops you in its charm while plucking a serenade on your heartstrings. The film itself is an evocation of a memory for writers/stars Tim Key & Tom Basden and director James Griffiths––a feature shot in eighteen days based on a short film they made eighteen years ago.

Basden plays jaded musician Herb McGwyer, who arrives for a private gig by dinghy on the humbly majestic Welsh coast. Greeting him on the shore is Charles, the lonely eccentric (played delightfully by Key) who hired him to...