The film based on the novel of the same name is based around an exchange of letters between Juliet Ashton, a writer living in London, and Dawsey Adams, a pig farmer in post-war Guernsey. Its sub-plot is about a Guernsey woman who begins a relationship with a German soldier during the Occupation.
The Times and The Irish Times gave the film one star, however The Daily Telegraph awarded the film four and the Daily Mail gave it three stars. Rotten Tomatoes, the online aggregate site for film reviews from a range of sources, currently pitches the average rating of the film at 76% approval.
Robbie Collin, writing in The Daily Telegraph, said: ‘Every location in this irresistible romantic mystery is like a little mini-break for the soul, every costume and piece of set-dressing nibble-ably gorgeous, and every character a pleasure to keep company with, even the rotters.’
Whereas Kevin Maher, film critic for The Times, said the film was ‘adapted with some painfully broad brushstrokes into a Frankenstein’s monster of populist standards’ and called its stars Lily James and Michiel Huisman ‘winners of the “absolutely no screen chemistry whatsoever” award’.
The first screenings of the film at The Mallard Cinema on Friday were sold out and cinema-goers were all pleased with the film’s depiction of the island.
Guernsey-born Jan Brown, 59, said she found the film very emotional.
‘You can imagine it all happening, emotions must have been running high. The Germans were here to do their job – my mother had a German billeted with them and he was extremely kind to them. The film did make it feel very real,’ she said.
Marilyn Daniel, 70, has been living in the island for 40 years and gave the film four-and-a-half stars.
‘People away from here are not going to realise it wasn’t Guernsey. It was a pity the houses didn’t look accurate, though. I know a lot about the Occupation and I thought that part was well done, they were accurate with the history. I still got a bit choked watching it,’ she said.
