Somewhat unexpectedly for a movie based on a children’s book series written during WWII, The Magic Faraway Tree all begins with a smart fridge. Polly (Claire Foy) is horrified to discover that the fridge she invented has been altered to spy on consumers via hidden cameras. So she quits her job, and—in a turn of events that could only be waved away by a children’s film—she, her husband Tim (Andrew Garfield), and their three kids move to a ramshackle barn in the middle of nowhere to start a business making Tim’s famous (to them) tomato sauce.
Two of the kids, Joe (Phoenix Laroche) and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) are horrified by their new living situation, the lack of Wi-Fi more than anything else. The youngest, Fran (Billie Gadsdon) is more open to the change of surroundings. And who could blame her, when those surroundings are filled with magical creatures? After meeting friendly fairy Silky (Nicola Coughlan), Fran discovers the Magic Faraway Tree, which plays host to a glorious array of strange characters and wondrous lands.
The Magic Faraway Tree is based on Enid Blyton’s much-loved series of children’s books, written from 1939 to 1951. Between those books and the Famous Five, Noddy, and Malory Towers series, Blyton had a significant effect on the childhoods of multiple generations of British kids. Though there have been numerous TV shows, it’s quite surprising how rarely she’s been adapted theatrically; this 2026 movie, directed by Ben Gregor, is certainly the most high-profile Blyton project to make it to the big screen.
Inevitably, considering the age of the source material, much has been changed in Simon Farnaby’s script, primarily from a technological standpoint. As such, the narrative shares a lot in common with this year’s Toy Story 5 in its concern with an overreliance on devices killing the imaginations of children. Yet, The Magic Faraway Tree’s plot often has the meandering feel of an excited, imaginative child breathlessly telling a story, “and then this happened! And then that happened!”, as you listen on, bemused but charmed regardless. Much of it plays out like a whimsical hangout movie, as Fran wanders around meeting figures like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), whose hair is in the shape of a moon (it’s best if you don’t overthink the nomenclature here), and Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns) whose saucepan outfit saves the day on more than one occasion.
That lack of narrative discipline does have its downsides. Rebecca Ferguson at first seems to be set up to be the movie’s nefarious White Witch figure, but she only has around five minutes of screentime, and rather anti-climactic ones at that. For a whole lot more of the duration, it’s oldest sibling Beth who functions as chief antagonist, quashing the new excitement of her little sister and almost ruining the nascent family business, before she realizes the error of her ways.
Additionally, what narrative there is is often overshadowed by a host of other more famous children’s adventures. Fran’s arrival at the tree plays like Lucy going through the wardrobe for the first time, the magical gang who live up there evoke Dorothy’s friends in Oz, and “The Land Of Goodies” seems like something Willy Wonka might have dreamed up (Farnaby actually co-wrote 2023’s Wonka). Although the Blyton book pre-dates two out of three of those source novels, they all beat it to the punch cinematically, which means that The Magic Faraway Tree sometimes struggles to establish an identity of its own. And yet, while the material can feel like a greatest hits album, it’s one that’s performed with a lot of love and enthusiasm, not by a jaded band tired of playing the same old songs.
That band includes Garfield and Foy, playing storybook parents any kid would dream of. Garfield gets the showier role as the dad who’s still a big kid himself, relentlessly optimistic in the face of quite dire circumstances and still living with his head in the clouds. Foy is the more level-headed of the two, but the movie skirts the stereotyped “fun dad, strict mom” dynamic, making her just as big a dreamer as he is. It feels unusual for a children’s film to spend so much time on the relationship between the parents, yet while Tim and Polly aren’t quite Gomez and Morticia, that they are visibly in love does invest The Magic Faraway Tree with an extra level of, well, magic.
All three child actors also acquit themselves well, delivering both the movie’s fantastical moments and entertaining vein of idiosyncratic humor quite deftly. Though many of the biggest names here don’t have a lot to do—Judi Dench is charged with voicing that aforementioned smart fridge—it’s nice to see the up-and-comers given prominent roles. Coughlan is particularly funny and endearing as the fairy charged with shepherding the kids through this enchanted kingdom.
There were four books in Blyton’s original The Faraway Tree series, and two more movies have been commissioned to follow this one. This franchising will either kill off the unwieldy charms of this first film or add some welcome discipline to the storytelling—perhaps Rebecca Ferguson’s villain will eventually become one for the ages. Taken on its own however, The Magic Faraway Tree is a likeable, whimsy-filled romp through familiar but understandably beloved territory.
Director: Ben Gregor
Writers: Simon Farnaby
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nonso Anozie, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning, Jennifer Saunders, Rebecca Ferguson
Release Date: August 21, 2026
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