The Choral is the new collaboration from director Nicholas Hytner and writer Alan Bennett, having worked together on The History Boys, The Lady in the Van and The Madness of King George. It has all the elements of a typical British comedy drama, set during World War 1, an unlikely bunch of characters thrown together for a common cause, and could sit comfortably in the collection of films like The Full Monty, Pride and Brassed Off. However, even with a strong cast and reliable writer-director, this fails to ignite.

A local choral society is struggling during the war to keep hold of the men, as well as this choral master, for a performance coming up. The committee reluctantly hired Dr Guthrie, a renowned musician who spent time in Germany and is proud of the fact. Having to recruit new members from anywhere he can, Dr Guthrie decides to get the group to perform a piece by Elgar, but is willing to risk everything for his own vision.

The Choral starts off with plenty of promise: a well-defined sense of period and using the lush backdrop of Yorkshire to carve out a town brimming with smoking chimneys and cobbled backstreets. The look and the production designs are everything you’d expect from a British film of this type. Even the idea of young men desperate to fight in the war inspires a particular pride. Yet, having all of this and the tale of a small choral society should have had plenty of emotional punch. Yet it doesn’t.

The trouble is the script. It doesn’t seem to go anywhere, and where previous films like this have that almost underdog feel that makes your heart leap during the finale, this doesn’t, and you find yourself a little let down. Especially when you consider that this is an Alan Bennett original, you get none of his wildly witty lines, but a tale where characters don’t seem to gel, and you are left wanting something more exciting.

We should feel something when the women of the town receive the ominous telegram, but we don’t. We should feel something when the young men are called upon to fight for their country, but we don’t. Even the subplot about the pianist refusing to fight is a bit flat. It also includes some very dubious attempts at sexual connotations. For a film like this, it does sit quite uncomfortably, as sex is used as a commodity more than for love (one scene involves a returned soldier with one arm who asks his ex to pleasure him). Even Dr Guthrie’s story leaves you wondering about his sexuality, as if this is the only thing we should be thinking about with these characters.

Having said that, the performances are solid, with the always reliable Ralph Fiennes on form as the doctor, and Roger Allam, who possesses the best voice in the world, doing sterling stuff as the Alderman. Simon Russell Beale, making a brief appearance as Elgar, comes along and steals it from everyone with an over-the-top, egomaniac creation that, for his short screen time, will make you remember long afterwards.

The Choral is a could-have-been movie. It could have been up there with the best this country produces, but instead it fails to excite or interest, and its only saving graces are the performances and the setting. A pity. At least it was better than Bennett’s last film, Allelujah.

3 out of 5

Director: Nicholas Hytner

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong, Simon Russell Beale, Ron Cook, Emily Fairn, Lyndsey Marshall, Robert Emms, Thomas Howes

Running Time: 113 mins

Cert: 12A

Release date: 7th November 2025