The Magic Faraway Tree (dir. Ben Gregor)

by Jack Martin | Mar 29, 2026

Certificate: U

Running Time: 110 mins

UK Distributor: Entertainment Film Distributors

UK Release Date: 27 March 2026

WHO’S IN THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE?

Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Billie Gadsdon, Phoenix Laroche, Nicola Coughlan, Nonso Anozie, Jessica Gunning, Dustin Demri-Burns, Mark Heap, Oliver Chris, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale, Jennifer Saunders, Hiran Abeysekera, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Farnaby, Claire Keelan

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Ben Gregor (director), Simon Farnaby (writer), Nicolas Brown, Pippa Harris, Jane Hooks and Danny Perkins (producers), Isabella Summers (composer), Zac Nicholson (cinematographer), Gary Dollner (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A family discovers a magical tree that transports them to wondrous new worlds…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON THE MAGIC FARAWAY TREE?

Enid Blyton is a curious author to adapt nowadays. Her writing style, which made her hugely popular throughout the early 20th century, is rather simplistic and about as emotionally complex as an empty water bottle. Plus, there are certain character names – Fanny, Dick, Dame Slap among others – as well as particular racist and sexist stereotypes that would absolutely not fly in today’s world. Yet, there’s a shining innocence to Blyton’s work which appeals most to children’s imaginations and plays into their wide-eyed curiosity about the world around them, creating a delightful sense of optimism that we arguably need now more than in Blyton’s own lifetime.

With their adaptation of The Magic Faraway Tree, based on Blyton’s series of books published between the 1930s and 1950s, director Ben Gregor and screenwriter Simon Farnaby do their utmost to try and recapture the innocent feeling that one would get from reading her work. They mostly succeed, for theirs is a relatively charming display of cinematic inoffensiveness that young children will particularly enjoy, though not everything from Blyton’s twee mindset is best suited for this wholly different type of storytelling.

The film begins with Tim (Andrew Garfield) and Polly (Claire Foy), a couple who are facing homelessness after Polly quits the job that’s providing their modern household, deciding to relocate to the countryside area where Tim grew up in order to start a tomato farm and subsequent pasta sauce company. None too pleased, however, are their children Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche) and Fran (Billie Gadsdon) who have grown far too accustomed to their tech-heavy world for them to suddenly embrace a more rural way of life. The family soon settles into a makeshift barnyard home located next to a woodland area that’s said to be enchanted, something that young Fran quickly discovers to be true when she comes across a magical tree that transports her to the home of numerous whimsical characters, including chipper pixie Silky (Nicola Coughlan), pompous know-it-all Moonface (Nonso Anozie) and the Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns) who’s dressed entirely in… oh, do I even need to say?

As in Blyton’s books, The Magic Faraway Tree largely consists of Fran and her siblings exploring the numerous lands that Silky and her magical brethren occupy, including the Land of Birthdays where everyone’s wishes can come true, the Land of Goodies which is essentially a diabetic’s worst nightmare, and the particularly useful Land of Spells. Naturally, there are some basic lessons for its young audience to learn, primarily ones about being too greedy or staying true to themselves, and it’s all delivered with the enthusiasm of a CBeebies show as the filmmakers maintain the whimsical child-friendly tone that Blyton originally made a name for herself with. Director Gregor, for instance, injects a playful sense of life into his actors that is neatly attuned to the innocent delights within Farnaby’s script, so you’ll have seasoned performers like Andrew Garfield and Rebecca Ferguson – the latter giving some serious Michael Sheen in The Twilight Saga levels of scenery-chewing as monstrous headmistress Dame Snap (formerly Dame Slap, a change that even the movie acknowledges) – completely losing themselves to the silliness yet remaining a sense of composure even when certain scenes descend into pure fart jokes.

Admittedly, this is a hard movie to critique because it is not primarily made for someone like me; it is very much for young kids, as much as other family classics like The Railway Children, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the 1997 version of Matilda were for generations past (meaning that, as with all those examples, I fully expect this movie to become an oft-repeated movie on TV around future Christmastimes). My adult cynicism contrasts greatly with the film’s bright and cheery tone which, unlike Farnaby’s previous family-centric screenplay credits on Wonka and Paddington 2, seems far more geared toward a specific age range than the universal appeal of those other movies, so even if I could bring up certain flaws that don’t translate as well – such as the fact that certain characters, particularly moody young Beth who only speaks in constant snark and rude dissatisfaction, remain consistently unlikeable throughout – they always come with an asterisk stating that I am not this film’s target audience.

If it’s any consolation, I do think most of The Magic Faraway Tree is fine, especially compared to a lot of other movies out there that dare to label themselves as being “child-friendly”, and it is certainly easy to see how young children could really get into this as much as anyone who read the original books did all those years ago. It’s sweetly harmless, giving kids an imaginative world to lose themselves in with eccentric characters who are simple yet identifiable, and providing adults with a soothing distraction while they get on with other things in their life. Most of all, it is a film that carries a genuine sense of innocent optimism that, while nowhere near as emotionally profound as something like the Paddington movies, feels rare among today’s family-movie landscape and, should it gain enough of an audience for there to be a sequel, sets the basis for plenty more fun in future instalments.

But even if this turns out to be the only film adaptation of Blyton’s book series, The Magic Faraway Tree proves that the author and her work can have a place in our present society, so long as they remain thoroughly for the little ones.

SO, TO SUM UP…

The Magic Faraway Tree is a charmingly inoffensive fantasy for young children who will enjoy losing themselves in the twee optimism of Enid Blyton’s stories, although adults won’t find much for them to get as invested in.