Here's Oscar winner Jim Broadbent giving arguably the performance of his illustrious career - an actor made for the long road playing a man on that very route.
Broadbent's titular hero is quietly - too quietly - seeing out his days in southern Devon when he receives a goodbye letter from a former colleague. She's in a hospice 470 miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed. On a whim, Harold decides he will walk to see her. Harold's wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton) thinks he's just gone to post a letter...
How's this for fate? Before the movie, Broadbent read the audiobook version of Rachel Joyce's bestseller and also trod the boards alongside the author back in her acting days. Meant to be so - a feeling that grows with every step Broadbent takes as Harold.
Whether it's chocolate, cigarettes or careers, if you feel like you're stuck in a bit of a rut, this could be the film to help get you out of it. Yes, it's sad as Normal People director Hettie Macdonald examines loss and memory along with way, but Harold Fry also gently implores us not to close our hearts to possibilities and to realise there is less to fear than we may think. The goodwill Harold generates far exceeds his blisters.
As news of Harold's adventure spreads, the drama becomes a little too big for its own good, with a couple of scenes overdone. But Broadbent is brilliant throughout and there is superb support from Penelope Wilton as the stay-at-home Maureen, shackled to routine, riddled with anxiety and weary from suppressed rage - but now with her own opportunity to break free.
You'll want to read - or re-read - the book. Joyce has also written a sequel with Maureen as the focus. Here's hoping we'll see it down the line.
