The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Jim Broadbent puts his best foot forward in this gentle, good-natured British drama. He plays Harold, a retiree who undertakes a trek to see an old colleague, Queenie, who is in a hospice dying of cancer. Leaving behind his home in South Devon, and his incredulous wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton), he sets out on a 500-mile hike to Berwick-upon-Tweed. Why doesn't he take the train? Because he believes his pilgrimage will keep Queenie alive, while she waits for him to arrive. Adapted by Rachel Joyce from her own novel, and unassumingly directed by Hettie Macdonald (Normal People), the movie isn't always credible - not least when Harold attracts a host of crusty followers - but the core spiritual message about finding meaning through helping others is touching. Broadbent, as ever, is first-rate, while Wilton effortlessly glides through a difficult role, as the spouse with her own emotional baggage.