THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY

(12A)

IN 1994, love was all around Mike Newell as he shepherded potty-mouthed romantic comedy Four Weddings and A Funeral to a trio of Baftas – including Best Film – and two Oscar nominations. That loving feeling persists in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Set predominantly on the island during and after World War II, when Germans invaded and heavily fortified the coast, Newell’s romance was filmed in Devon and is laden with emotional soft centres to guarantee swoons of satisfaction. Lily James casts a warm glow as one point of a tantalising love triangle that provides the framework for a grim history lesson peppered with heartache. The script cuts back and forth between 1941 and 1946 in order to conceal twists in the plot, evoking the era with impeccable period design that contrasts simple, earthy tones of life off the British mainland with the exuberance and style of high society London rebuilding itself following the Blitz.

Author Juliet Ashton (James) and publisher Sidney Stark (Matthew Goode) embark on a book tour amid the rubble of a capital decimated by enemy bombs.

“It feels like we’ve emerged from a long, black tunnel into a carnival,” says Juliet, who is buoyed by her burgeoning romance with a dashing American officer (Glen Powell).

Out of the blue, she receives a letter from a Guernsey farmer called Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), who shares details about a literary society established under German occupation.

Intrigued by this inspirational story of defiance in a time of conflict, Juliet travels to meet Dawsey and club members Eben Ramsey (Sir Tom Courtenay), Isola Pribby (Katherine Parkinson) and Amelia Maugery (Dame Penelope Wilton).

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society confidently navigates choppy emotional waters separating the two time frames.

James and Huisman are an exceedingly attractive pairing and their on-screen chemistry simmers.

Sterling support led by Wilton plucks heartstrings without resorting to shameless emotional manipulation.

DAMON SMITH