The Magic Faraway Tree film review: Child-friendly surrealism
Blyton’s wild imagination soars in Simon Farnaby’s exuberant and whimsical adaptation
There are no longer characters called Dick and Fanny, more’s the pity, but this suitably enchanting spin on Enid Blyton’s beloved Faraway Tree books adds plenty of (intentional) humour to the mix. It’s scripted by Simon Farnaby (of Ghosts, Paddington 2 and Wonka fame), while director Ben Gregor (best known for his TV comedy work on the likes of Brassic and Black Ops) is at the helm.
We follow the Thompson clan as they move from their swish city pad to a ramshackle rural barn after breadwinner mum Polly (Claire Foy) loses her job. Sensitive stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) is eager to start his own business, growing tomatoes and making spaghetti sauce, but the couple’s screen addict kids (Billie Gadsdon, Phoenix Laroche and Delilah Bennett-Cardy) find themselves bored to death in the country. That is, until they wander into the Enchanted Wood and head up the Faraway Tree, where they meet Silky (Nicola Coughlan), Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns) and the Angry Pixie (Hiran Abeysekera), and are whisked off on adventures to magical lands in the sky.
The film balances nostalgia for old-fashioned, family-driven fun with modern values and a delightfully diverse ensemble. It’s lovely enough for even the littlest of children, but adults will get a kick out of the surreal, Terry Gilliam or Mighty Boosh-esque material too. Rebecca Ferguson is wickedly good as the children’s antagonist, the dastardly schoolteacher Dame Snap, though there’s not enough of her; instead, peril is chiefly derived from whether Tim’s tomatoes will come a cropper, along with the judgements of Jennifer Saunders’ grotesquely snobby grandma.
Farnaby’s expertly scripted silliness pairs wonderfully with Blyton’s iconically bonkers ideas, endearingly brought to life by a game and often exuberantly costumed cast. But, like all the best children’s films, there’s real emotion at its core, as it makes the case for kids to simply be kids: to get off the screens, fire their imaginations and open their hearts.
The Magic Faraway Tree is in cinemas from Friday 27 March.