500 Miles is a 2026 drama film, directed by Morgan Matthews from a screenplay by Malcolm Campbell, adapted from the novel Charlie and Me by Mark Lowery. The film had its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival in February and was released in the UK last Friday, 26 June.

There has been a family bust-up. Grandad John (Bill Nighy), who lives on the Dingle peninsula in southwest Ireland, is estranged from his daughter (Clare Dunne), her husband (Michael Socha) and his two grandchildren. The eldest child Finn (Roman Griffin Davis) overhears his parents arguing and preparing to separate. He decides to run away to Ireland with younger brother Charlie (Dexter Sol Ansell), because Grandad always knows what to do. And so begins an epic 500-mile journey from Sheffield to Dingle, primarily by public transport. During the journey we discover in flashback that the family were at their happiest when holidaying with Grandad in Dingle … until something happened.

Eventually we find out what happened, and it is quite a twist which I didn’t see coming, however it was too late because by then I was desperately bored. This is twee over-sentimental pap, and I feel like a real heel saying this, but when you have hit the ‘I couldn’t care less’ point, it is too late for tears.

Bill Nighy is good, of course he is, and the little kid playing Charlie is full of cheeky promise but that was about it. The storytelling is pedestrian in the extreme and, whilst the cinematography is stunning in parts, one has to say that if you can’t make the Dingle peninsular look good, you should probably put away your box-brownie anyway.

500 Miles is twee in the extreme. If you like road movies and don’t need any edge, this may work for you, but I spent much of the first hour and a bit trying to invent better stories (what if Charlie was a haemophiliac…). When the twist comes it does give pause for thought, but not enough for me to recommend a cinema visit.