“The Magic Faraway Tree” may be the hidden gem of the summer 2026 movie season. It is a contemporary antidote to a world that dismisses the importance of children, the nuclear family, and the possibilities of imagination mixed with ingenuity.
While a modern retelling of Enid Blyton’s classic Faraway Tree series, it still has the essence of childlike wonder that made that series dear to many.
The movie follows Tim (Andrew Garfield) and Polly Thompson (Claire Foy) and their children Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche), and Fran (Billie Gadsdon). Due to Polly quitting her job on moral grounds against her company installing spy cameras into her invention of a smart refrigerator, the family moves to the country to pursue one of the couple’s dreams of growing tomatoes and selling the Italian pasta sauce Tim’s dad taught him to make before he passed away when Tim was a child.
Close to their new home, a ramshackle barn with no electricity and (to the children’s dismay) no WiFi, is a giant wood that is rumored to be enchanted.
While the parents struggle together to grow the tomatoes for the sauce, the children find themselves being whisked into a magical world of whimsical characters and fairy-tale lands.
There are several ways to relate this movie to the faith, but the three that stood out the most were its vision of marriage, lens of childlike wonder, and showcasing how a meal can bring a community together.
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Vision of Marriage
My favorite part of the movie was the supportive love between spouses Tim and Polly Thompson. Their relationship felt like the embodiment of the “Love is patient” section of 1 Corinthians 13 that is read at many weddings, in particular, “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (Verse 7).
Their new living situation is dire beyond just not having electricity and WiFi. The farmhouse is riddled with cobwebs, has no running water, and seems to have been abandoned for quite some time.
Instead of falling into despair, both spouses maintain an optimistic disposition and try to make their predicament palatable for their shocked children.
The scenes of them working together to fix up the barn show two lovers devoted to each other, working through hardship, and dedicated to a similar mission.
Tim’s creativity shines through as he troubleshoots ways to install amenities, entertain the family, and cultivate the land for growing tomatoes for his pasta sauce. There is one scene where Tim plays Gregorian chant to help his plants grow,
Polly’s ingenuity similarly shines as she supports Tim in his pursuit of making the pasta sauce. She uses her inventive gifts to create makeshift sprinkler systems and a greenhouse, accelerating the goal of making the pasta sauce as soon as possible.
Throughout their struggles, they laugh, kiss, dance, and stand by each other. Their love is pure and genuine. If either one succeeds, they share their success. If one fails, the other stands by their side, letting them know they will bear, believe, hope and endure all things, no matter what struggles come their way.
The gift of childlike wonder
The scenes in the enchanted wood of the Faraway Tree and the lands beyond reminded me of the best moments of wonder from classics like “The Wizard of Oz” (1939), “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971), and Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (2005).
The residents of the Faraway Tree have names that describe an aspect of their character, like the Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), whose outfit is entirely made of saucepans.
The lands beyond also present simple messages about consequences that relate to children. One example is in the Land of Birthdays, where the characters make birthday wishes, but they must be careful what they wish for because the result may have unexpected consequences.
These scenes are simple, but their simplicity is their strength. Children gravitate towards these scenes, and adults can enjoy them if they embrace the movie’s overall theme of being childlike.
Being childlike is an important aspect of approaching God. Jesus says in Matthew 18:3, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Aspects of being childlike are cultivating wonder, curiosity, and joy in God’s creation and transformative presence in the world. It means opening your heart, mind, and soul to the beauty around you, even as you move through life experiencing hardships and cruelty.
It gets harder as you take on the responsibilities of adulthood but can be obtained when you contemplate the vast mysteries of God’s creative and redemptive love.
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How a meal can bring a community together
One of the sweetest parts of “The Magic Faraway Tree” is at the end when the Thompson family has their pasta sauce launch festival.
The entire town, some of Beth’s friends from the city, and somehow a world-renowned pasta sauce distributor come to try out Tim’s creation, and they are not disappointed.
The sauce is a hit. There are many scenes of people laughing, dancing, and enjoying each other’s company while eating their noodles with sauce.
The sight of a community gathering to celebrate a meal, built on someone laying down their life to achieve a goal, immediately brought my mind to the Liturgy of the Eucharist in the Mass.
As explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “The Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’”[1] (1324). Everything we believe and practice as Christians is bound and oriented towards it because Christ himself is present in the Eucharist.
In relation to it being a meal that we all gather around, the Catechism explains:
The inexhaustible richness of this sacrament is expressed in the different names we give it. Each name evokes certain aspects of it. It is called: Eucharist, because it is an action of thanksgiving to God. The Greek words eucharistein[2] and eulogein[3] recall the Jewish blessings that proclaim – especially during a meal – God’s works: creation, redemption, and sanctification. The Lord’s Supper, because of its connection with the supper which the Lord took with his disciples on the eve of his Passion and because it anticipates the wedding feast of the Lamb in the heavenly Jerusalem.[4] (1328-1329)
To add a bit of flavor for how the image of a Eucharistic Feast is shown in “The Magic Faraway Tree,” the festival sequence seems to be filmed during “golden hour.” Golden hour is a time, either during sunrise or sunset, when the Sun is slightly above or below the horizon, creating a golden glow in the atmosphere and natural lighting that is a cinematographer’s dream. When I worked on film sets, we used to say that God is the ultimate lighting designer, and the proof was in golden hour.
In Catholic symbolism, gold is associated with the divine light of Christ and heavenly glory. This is why it is used in the vessels that hold and store the Eucharist, vestments for major feasts in the liturgical year, and in sacred art.
Where it succeeded
“The Magic Faraway Tree” is a charming, wholesome story that relates to viewers of all ages. Adults can resonate with Tim and Polly’s storyline and have a sense of nostalgia while the story explores the enchanted wood. Kids resonate with the children going on magical adventures with silly characters and learning lessons. Teens even relate to the character Beth, the angsty teenager, throughout the movie.
Its success in storytelling is not a surprise, as writer Simon Farnaby (who also appears in the movie as the farmer who lets the Thompson family stay in his old barn until they can pay it off) has acclaim for writing other childlike stories showcasing wonder like “Paddington 2” (2017) and “Wonka” (2023).
The acting, pace, cinematography, practical effects, and score all blend perfectly. Special kudos go out to the young actress who played Beth, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, as she had the fullest arc of any of the characters in going from a self-centered teen to a teen who learns to appreciate her parents’ sacrifices for her and a person who reclaims her sense of childlike wonder.
Where it fell short
The only unresolved plot point was the guard in the Land of Goodies saying that Fran will go to a greedy jail because she took more sweets than she could carry. The others save Fran from being stuck to a marshmallow tree, but her punishment never came up again.
It was alluded that the Land of Dame Snap (Rebecca Ferguson) has a jail, so I thought Fran would be thrown in there once they arrived there because of her greedy actions. However, she and the rest of the gang end up in jail because of antics in Dame Snap’s classroom, not because of any earlier action in the movie.
Polly’s mother, played by Jennifer Saunders, is a London socialite who has a thick German accent. There is a short explanation for why, but the accent choice seemed more random than many of the whimiscal characters and lands in the Faraway Tree.
What parents should be aware of
The only semi-frightening character is Dame Snap. She mentions she used to be called “Dame Slap” (a reference to the book’s character), but she no longer slaps children because it is no longer acceptable. She is still a teacher who has no patience for tomfoolery or any childhood antics and sends any character whom she perceives to be naughty to “detention.” Detention is a giant jail cell that is not that hard for the characters to break out of and escape the land. Dame Snap screams as the characters fly away, and the screams produce huge sound waves. Children sensitive to scary scenes might be a little scared of this part, but it is a lot more playfully scary than other children’s movies in comparison.
Final Thoughts
“The Magic Faraway Tree” has the potential to be Gen-Alpha’s go-to fantasy movie. It reminded me of many classic fantasy movies that have inspired generations since the beginning of cinema.
The problem is that the movie has not been widely distributed. It is a hidden gem because its marketing was essentially non-existent in comparison to the big summer tentpoles like “Toy Story 5,” “The Odyssey,” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” (Reviews linked). In fact, I fear I would have missed this one completely if not for becoming a movie reviewer.
Nevertheless, “The Magic Faraway Tree” is a great pick for a parent, grandparent, or guardian wanting to inspire the imaginations of their children and grandchildren.
It will be a movie in rotation in my household for years to come.
[1] Lumen gentium 11.
[2] Cf. Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24.
[3] Cf. Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22.
[4] Cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20; Revelation 19:9.
