The Magic Faraway Tree (U)
Cast: Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Andrew Garfield, Billie Gadsdon, Jennifer Saunders, Nonso Anozie, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, Nicola CoughlanGenre: Comedy
Author(s): Simon Farnaby
Director: Ben Gregor
Release Date: 27/03/2026
Running Time: 110mins
Country: UK
Year: 2026
Smart fridge designer Polly Thompson resigns from her job for refusing to violate customers' privacy with a hidden camera embedded in the appliance's door. She moves to the countryside with husband Tim and their three children, Beth, Fran and Joe, to realise dad's long-cherished dream of making fresh tomato sauce. Fran follows instructions inside a handwritten note to ascend an enchanted tree, which is home to fairy Silky and her magical friends.
LondonNet Film Review
The Magic Faraway Tree (U) Film Review from LondonNet
Do you believe in magic? You may do after almost two delightful hours in the company of director Ben Gregor’s rambunctious family-oriented adventure, adapted by screenwriter Simon Farnaby from Enid Blyton’s popular series of books. A briskly paced and broadly comic odyssey laden with special effects-bedazzled flourishes conceals well-earned lump-in-throat payoffs that double down on a wholesome core message about a united family overcoming adversity…
Smart fridge designer Polly Thompson (Claire Foy) resigns from her job for refusing to violate customers’ privacy with a hidden camera embedded in the appliance’s door. She moves to the countryside with husband Tim (Andrew Garfield) and their three children, Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Fran (Billie Gadsdon) and Joe (Phoenix Laroche), to realise dad’s long-cherished dream of making fresh tomato sauce. The family pays £20,000 for a tumbledown barn belonging to a farmer (Simon Farnaby) and his wife (Claire Keelan) without wifi or modern conveniences (including electricity). The children are apoplectic and sullen and sarcastic, and Beth sends a handwritten SOS to her wealthy maternal grandmother (Jennifer Saunders) to finance her escape from the fresh air and social media-free serenity.
Meanwhile, Fran follows instructions inside a handwritten note to ascend an enchanted tree, which is home to fairy Silky (Nicola Coughlan) and her magical friends Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Mr Watzisname (Oliver Chris) and Angry Pixie (Hiran Abeysekera). They accompany Fran on magical adventures that could heal her broken family… presuming they avoid falling into the clutches of villainous Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson).
The Magic Faraway Tree fizzes and pops with sugary sweetness like a mouthful of flying saucer sweets, which take flight on screen when Fran indulges her confectionery dreams in the Land of Goodies. Young stars Bennett-Cardy, Gadsdon and Laroche warmly embrace their character stereotypes and provide just the right amount of pluck to take charge of the film’s frenetic final act. Foy and particularly Garfield treat their roles with heartfelt sincerity amid the tomfoolery and carefully choreographed chaos. Screenwriter Farnaby concentrates on the first book in Blyton’s series – The Enchanted Wood, first published in 1939 – and updates the source material to a fanciful vision of the present day that matches the tone of his previous work co-writing Paddington 2 and Wonka.
He distributes sparkling one-liners evenly among the ensemble cast and gets considerable mileage out of the running joke about Saucepan Man’s cookware-impaired hearing. However, Beth’s redemption happens so quickly audiences might experience whiplash, and a key sequence, which the children claim will only take a couple of hours to a tight deadline, clearly requires considerably longer without any logical and obvious repercussions. That’s when you have to consciously uncouple from common sense and truly believe in magic.
– Sarah Lee
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