Set in a small English mill town during the final years of the First World War, The Choral is a moving and life-affirming drama about the power of music to sustain hope in times of profound loss. As the war drains the town of its young men, its once-proud choral society faces extinction. Determined to keep the tradition alive, the remaining members recruit women, older singers, and local teenagers, reshaping both the choir and the community itself.
Dr Henry Guthrie, a gifted and unconventional choirmaster whose refined musical sensibility and years spent in Germany make him an object of suspicion in an atmosphere of wartime patriotism. Undeterred, Guthrie challenges the choir with an ambitious and deeply emotional work: Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
As rehearsals unfold, the music binds together a richly drawn ensemble of characters: young singers on the brink of adulthood, families coping with absence and grief, and a community learning to adapt as long-held social rules are quietly overturned. Choral singing becomes an act of resistance and renewal, offering solace, purpose, and moments of joy amid uncertainty.
Warm, witty, and emotionally resonant, The Choral celebrates the enduring power of art..
R | UK | 2025 | 1h 53m
Directed by Nicholas Hytner (BAFTA, Olivier, and Tony Award winner)
Written by Alan Bennett
Starring Ralph Fiennes
Beer and wine available at our concessions
“one of the most genuinely heartwarming films of the year”
– The Guardian
“Ralph Fiennes leads an immaculate cast in this wartime choir drama… the film’s gentleness and emotional depth resonate long after the final notes.”
– Financial Times
“Quiet and consistent pleasure… Alan Bennett’s wit and the music of Elgar carry emotional weight.”
– The Guardian
