The Choral – British Film Festival Review
The beauty of film is that there are a myriad of genres and styles of story out there for a wide variety of audiences. And one sub-genre that always seems to be underestimated and forgotten by audiences is the “Sunday matinee movie that your grandparents will go and watch with a glass of wine, and this will be one of the three trips to the cinema for the year”. It’s a super niche sub-genre, but the new period-era drama, The Choral, fits quite snuggle into it.
Set in Yorkshire during the height of World War I, The Choral follows a local church choir who are in search of a new choirmaster after their previous one joins the army and is sent to battle. The heads of the choir, Fyton (Mark Addy), Bernard (Roger Allam), and Trickett (Alun Armstrong) manage to find their replacement in the controversial choice of Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) – a gay atheist who is fond of German culture. Despite the reluctance of their town for choosing Dr. Guthrie, the choir perseveres and adopts new methods of recruitment to put on a performance to convince their doubters wrong.
From the costuming, the production design, the setting, to the tone, The Choral is one of those movies that follows a formula so closely that it makes for an easy, enjoyable watch, but does nothing overly interesting to feel like necessary viewing. It seems like director Nicholas Hytner knows this, and uses the nostalgic familiarity to lure the audiences in for a comfort watch, which is ultimately what The Choral is.
Exploring the themes of acceptance, especially through Dr. Guthrie, being a gay man at the time, has a plotline that doesn’t delve too deep past surface level. The more interesting dynamics play out as his atheism and Germanophilia clashes more with the artists of the work he is hoping to interpret with the choir. But even then, these are more surface level dramas that are there to thicken up the plot, which focuses more on the relationships that are built within the choir, both romantically and platonically. Being a wartime drama lends to some emotional moments where the news of fallen soldiers add effective, but predictable elements of drama.
The performances across the board are fine, with most of the cast seemingly enjoying reveling in the “old-timey” nature of the story. The costumes and set design create this immersive feeling that brings out the posh British demeanour of the high-faluting society members, which often leads to more comedic moments as they interact with the more cockney, bullish new members of the choir.
Ralph Fiennes brings a nuance and tenderness to the core of Dr. Guthrie, who on the surface is a far more cutting and direct figure who will fight for his artistic interpretations, and watching Fiennes play around with the juxtaposition of his own being that is one of the film’s more engaging elements, and an actor of Fiennes calibre helps bring that sort of legitimacy to a movie like this. Whereas other main players, such as Addy or Allam, while still good in the film, give more predictable performances.
The Choral runs a little too long, and has a lot of characters and plotlines that never delve to far below surface level exploration, but it’s got a sweet tone and demeanour to it that delivers a familiar dramatic experience that will most likely entertain the type of audience who already have an affection for these type of films.
The Choral played at the 2025 British Film Festival, and is in Australian cinemas New Year’s Day
