Film review: ‘THE CHORAL’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’
The charming, erudite but undercooked British film The Choral from director Nicholas Hytner and playwright Alan Bennett, is part of that subgenre of films in which music is a redemptive and healing force for a community. Like Brassed Off, the recent My Brother’s Band and The Commitments, The Choral features a group of average folks uniting and transcending their lives through music.
Set in 1916, the film sees the choral society of the fictitious Yorkshire town of Ramsden looking for a choirmaster and new choir members with most of the young men having gone off to war. The appointed choirmaster is renowned musician and conductor Dr Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) who has become persona non grata with much of the English music establishment due to his connections to Germany and his homosexuality. With German composers off the menu, Dr Henry chooses Elgar’s Gerontius for the choir’s annual performance. As the town’s collection of aspiring singers prepares for the show, the choir becomes the catalyst for a variety of personal dramas.
Mostly tasteful, occasionally twee and at times uplifting, The Choral offers a fairly old-fashioned heartwarming cinema experience. Occasionally, though, it feels a little tepid. In addition to the First World War, Bennett’s script touches on some pertinent social issues such as female suffrage and attitudes toward homosexuality but the film it doesn’t explore these in any great depth.
Hytner does a reasonable job of developing the film’s large ensemble of characters although a few, such as the cocky young local lads feel a little thin and interchangeable. The remarkably prolific Ralph Fiennes brings his usual class to the role of the refined but emotionally troubled choirmaster Guthrie. Roger Alum manages to be both amusingly pompous an empathetic as the choir’s wealthy patron and aspiring but untalented lead tenor. Simon Russell Beale makes a brief but forceful appearance as composer Elgar.
Not surprisingly the film features some inspiring music, particularly through the singing of choir leader Salvation Army nurse Mary (Amara Okereke) and injured soldier Clyde (Jacob Dudman).
We’ve seen this sort of film a few times before but this one is handled with enough warmth and class to prevent it from feeling feel stale.
Nick’s rating: ***
Genre: Drama/Period film.
Classification: M.
Director(s): Nicholas Hytner.
Release date: 1st Jan 2026.
Running time: 113 mins.
Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.