SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
Based on The Faraway Tree book series written by Enid Blyton from 1939 to 1951, Polly Thompson (played by Claire Foy) unexpectedly quits her highly-successful job after she discovers the company has been putting hidden cameras in the smart refrigerator model that she designed in order to spy on customers. Always the optimist, her husband Tim (Andrew Garfield) tries to encourage her by breaking out their old “dream book” and says this might be their opportunity to move back to the countryside area he grew up in and start their tomato sauce business. Faced with no other option of staying in the city, the family finds a barn to buy from a local family and makes the move. The barn, of course, has no electricity, no running water and no wifi, much to the dismay of their three children who’ve grown up in privilege. Being forced to go outside and make their own entertainment, Fran (Billie Gadsdon) — who hasn’t spoken in years — is invited to an area of the forest that transports her to a whimsical community in the sky. There, she finds a sense of imagination, happiness and even a few friends. When she returns, her family is shocked that she’s speaking again but, when she invites her older sister Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) and brother Joe (Phoenix Laroche) to experience what she’s experienced, they’re resistant and think she’s crazy. After some convincing — and with nothing else to do since there’s no technology — the three head to the forest and find themselves in a room where elves are granting people an irreversible wish. Fran wishes for a new voice and Joe wishes to be his favorite video game character but, when those wishes don’t go as planned, it’s up to the unhappy pessimist Beth to save her siblings and, eventually, her family.
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Offering plenty of humor, outstanding performances and great writing, THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE is a perfect family movie night. In addition, it carries an agenda about the importance of unplugging without shoving that message down your throat which, as always, is the best way for an agenda to connect with the viewer.
It’s no secret that I typically don’t care for child actors. It’s not that they can’t be good — they absolutely can be (see: Jacobi Jupe in HAMNET, Madeleine Yuna Voyles in THE CREATOR and Ariana Greenblatt in 65) — but, more often than not, whatever the casting director saw in their audition doesn’t translate to the screen. So when you have a family movie like this, it’s mission critical that the young actors rise above the rest. Thankfully, in THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE, they do. Bennett-Cardy incorporates the perfect balance of teen angst and compassion, Laroche plays the timid middle child coming out of his shell to a T and Gadsdon has all the bright-eyed wonder the character of Fran calls for. Any lesser actor in either of those three roles and the film just doesn’t hit the same.
Also, director Ben Gregor delivers clever touches throughout. From opening doors revealing credit titling to split-screened perspectives to gorgeous cinematography choices, Gregor takes an amusingly witty screenplay by Simon Farnaby (and the original source material, of course) and elevates it into “classic” status.
Whether it be THE NEVERENDING STORY or WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY or THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE will remind the viewer of whatever family classic impacted their personal generation. Foy and Garfield are great but, more importantly, the three young actors ensure the experience is a positive one.
Despite being elementary at times and a little over-the-top at others, this is a must-see for all families with young children.
JKG SCORE: 7.0 out of 10
Untitled Film Project 