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movie review the guernsey literary and potato peel

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This film’s title is a mouthful, no question, yet its plot is spoon-fed simplicity. Never for a moment did I fear that our lead heroine wasn’t destined for the happy ending telegraphed throughout the first act. Sure, stakes are raised on occasion, but never high enough to block the picturesque scenery. As soon as an elderly man vomited on the shoe of a Nazi in German-occupied Guernsey during the film’s opening moments—without consequence, mind you—all sense of palpable danger evaporated from my mind. These aren’t real-life Nazis like the ones who marched through Charlottesville, but rather, the ones who forced the Von Trapps to sing “Edelweiss” in concert, only to let them escape unhindered.

Having said that, I whole-heartedly love “The Sound of Music,” and I have little doubt many viewers will warm to this cozy Netflix Original Movie. “The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society” is being released a mere three weeks after “ Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again ,” another summer crowd-pleaser tinged with melancholy. Both films are set largely on a gorgeous island, while pivoting between the present day and the vividly remembered past. At the heart of each narrative is a woman whose absence is deeply felt. Whereas Lily James portrayed the young Donna ( Meryl Streep ’s deceased “Mamma Mia!” character) in flashbacks, here she switches roles by sleuthing through the mysteries left behind by one of Guernsey’s most cherished inhabitants. As Juliet Ashton, an English author who maintains a “You’ve Got Mail”-esque correspondence with Dawsey ( Michiel Huisman ), the island’s most fetching bachelor, in 1946, James once again proves to be a luminous screen presence. Her fluttering eyelids and megawatt smile single-handedly held my interest in 2015’s pointless “Cinderella” remake, though thankfully in “Guernsey,” Juliet is far more proactive about severing the chains of her imprisonment. Moved by stories of the island’s literary club, which bonded the community amidst the despair of WWII, the writer sets out to meet its members in person, though not before her chauvinistic boyfriend, Mark ( Glen Powell ), slides an engagement ring on her finger, thereby marking his property before it’s shipped. When Juliet bristles at Mark’s claim that he let her leave, it’s only a matter of time before this love triangle arrives at its expected destination.

For all of its breezy charm, what makes “Guernsey” an often frustrating experience is the fact that the story uncovered by Juliet is exceedingly more interesting than the one she finds herself confined within. When she learns that the club’s rebellious founder, Elizabeth ( Jessica Brown Findlay ), is no longer present on the island, the author ventures to discover the truth of her disappearance, thus requiring James to spend many scenes asking, “What happened?”, until the reluctant witnesses cave. This process of manufacturing intrigue by withholding soon-to-be-revealed information—summoned up crumb by crumb—is a classic storytelling device, yet it tested my patience in this case, since the dominating narrative is throughly predictable from the get-go.

Time and again, the film consistently deprives us of the good stuff. We only get fleeting glimpses of the club’s spirited readings and debates, which are a joy to watch, especially with veteran talents like Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton in the mix. Courtenay’s best moment occurs as he delivers impassioned words directly into the face of a sleeping Nazi attending their meeting. “When respect for other people goes out the window, the gates of hell are surely opened and ignorance is king,” he declares, oddly echoing a famous passage in Walter M. Miller Jr.’s 1959 sci-fi novel, A Canticle for Leibowitz . A few sentences later, Miller notes that those who feed off ignorance fear literacy, “for the written word is another channel of communication that might cause their enemies to become united.”

Over the end credits, we hear the audio from a club meeting where Wilton argues that when it comes to Virginia Woolf , “narrative is not the author’s primary concern.” If only that were true of this screenplay, which displays little interest in any moment of observation not designed to simply move the plot forward. More than any of the romantic entanglements, I was most touched by Juliet’s encounters with Isola ( Katherine Parkinson of “The IT Crowd”), the self-described non-beauty of the club, who embraces Wuthering Heights as a distraction from her nonexistent love life. They share a lovely scene in bed, as they talk around certain truths that were branded taboo in their era. Isola admits that she’s still a virgin, while Juliet reveals that her publisher and lifelong friend is gay (he’s played by Matthew Goode with a suaveness worthy of Cary Grant ). Less successful is the awkwardly truncated farewell between the pair, as Isola cries, “When you’re gone … ” with such swelling emotion, I half-expected an ABBA number to break out. Juliet’s conviction regarding the importance of issues such as gender equality results in some fist-pumping moments, yet her lines often feel more like statements than dialogue. When she stands up to a maid (who is undoubtedly a member of the same Busybodies Anonymous club run by Mary Wickes in “White Christmas”), Juliet grabs the Bible from her and exclaims, “Here is a book filled with love, and you overlook it for judgment and petty meanness!” These words couldn’t be more on-the-nose, but James delivers them with stirring ire.

Every time Elizabeth materializes onscreen, we are reminded of how much more rewarding the film would’ve been had it foregrounded her story instead. As Nazis marched down the streets of her hometown during the occupation, she walked right up to them screaming, “Shame!” How she managed to later fall for one of the German officers is never adequately explored. Equally timely is the tragedy of Elizabeth’s fate, as deportation results in the splintering of her family. Had Dawsey been clinging to his supposed infatuation with her while finding himself attracted to Juliet, this might’ve blossomed into a melodrama on the order of the club’s iconic selections, but alas, the ghosts of Guernsey do not linger. Not only does the narrative framework provide a reassuring distance from the wartime horrors, the script repeatedly forces characters to spell out things we could’ve easily gathered from a single wordless expression. Once Juliet reads that Dawsey had been found guilty of assault, she looks toward the camera and says out loud, “Dawsey attacked a man?!” It’s the sort of line that exists only for viewers who had neglected to read the text clearly displayed in the previous shot.

In need of no dialogue at all is Wilton, whose withering stare could flatten an entire valley of flower beds. She repeatedly threatens to walk away with the picture, as her character is put relentlessly through the emotional ringer. When Isola questions whether a four-year-old would be able to comprehend the finality of death, Wilton tearfully replies, “I’m older than time and I understand nothing.” This is a line evocative of a tougher film like Christian Duguay ’s underrated “ A Bag of Marbles ,” which shares many themes with “Guernsey,” particularly the value of objects passed through the generations and how families can be formed among strangers during times of profound distress.

The flaws in this film are considerable, yet they aren’t quite enough to torpedo the abundance of good feeling it delivers. Mike Newell is skilled at delighting audiences, and “Guernsey” is the director’s most accomplished feature since his marvelous 2005 installment of the “Harry Potter” franchise. Fans of the bestselling novel upon which it is based will likely eat it up, and though the subject matter could’ve been developed into a more challenging and provocative yarn, this film’s chief aim is escapism. It’s a welcome diversion at a time when the nation’s collective blood-pressure is continuing to climb. My favorite moment in the picture is also the one that, for me, rang the truest. Only after breaking off her engagement is Juliet able to produce her best possible writing, just as the baby’s birth in “Waitress” prompts its heroine to leave her worthless husband for good. In both cases, patriarchy gets a well-deserved pie in the face.

Matt Fagerholm

Matt Fagerholm is the Literary Editor at RogerEbert.com and is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society movie poster

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

124 minutes

Lily James as Juliet Ashton

Jessica Brown Findlay as Elizabeth McKenna

Matthew Goode as Sidney Stark

Michiel Huisman as Dawsey Adams

Katherine Parkinson as Isola Pribby

Glen Powell as Mark Reynolds

Tom Courtenay as Eben Ramsey

Kit Connor as Eli Ramsey

Penelope Wilton as Amelia Maugery

Mike Newell

Writer (based on the novel by)

Mary Ann Shaffer
Annie Barrows
Thomas Bezucha

Cinematographer

Zac Nicholson
Paul Tothill
Alexandra Harwood

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Film Review: ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’

That tongue-twisting title promises something more eccentric than Mike Newell's anodyne mix of post-WWII romance, mystery and bookwormery.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

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If your first instinct upon seeing the title “ The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ” is to say, “Well, that’s a mouthful,” rest assured that Mike Newell ‘s film has you covered, for a secondary character does the very same. Indeed, pretty much everyone in this crumbly oatmeal biscuit of a movie does and says exactly what you’d expect of them: based not on the logic of real life, of course, but the cozy conventions of umpteen twee heritage Britpics before it. For Sunday-afternoon comfort-viewing purposes, it’s no problem that “Guernsey” — which follows the post-WWII escapades of a winsome London writer ( Lily James ) on the eponymous isle — doesn’t stray from its inevitable course as a town-versus-country love triangle. That it offers no surprises as a nominal wartime mystery, however, is rather more bothersome, particularly as what should be a perky trifle trudges past the two-hour mark.

“You already know what books can do,” the heroine is advised in “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,” which itself arrives on screen with some assurance on that front. Based on a posthumously published 2008 bestseller by U.S. author Mary Ann Shaffer and co-writer Annie Barrows, it’s one of those films rather perversely dedicated to celebrating the power of the written word, even as it jettisons reams of its source material in the name of cinematic simplicity. (Perhaps not even cinematic: “Guernsey” plays in many respects like a scaled-down miniseries, standing it in good stead for its planned Netflix release in the U.S. and other territories.) Shaffer and Barrows’ short, breezy novel wasn’t aiming for Brontë to begin with, but it’s received soapier treatment still in the slick hands of co-writers Don Roos (some way from “The Opposite of Sex”), Thomas Bezucha (“The Family Stone”) and Kevin Hood (“Becoming Jane”).

Between them, they’ve disentangled the novel’s dramatic and romantic complications to a fault; if it’s possible to merely amble in place, that’s what the storytelling in “Guernsey” does for protracted stretches of screen time. At least that über -quirky title is explained upfront: The society in question is named as an imagined alibi by the eldest and drunkest (Tom Courtenay) of several merry revelers out past curfew on the Nazi-occupied island. After the fact, it becomes a makeshift book club and an outlet for revolutionary spirit among friends, led by defiant firebrand Elizabeth (Jessica Brown Findlay).

Several years and some key traumas later, sturdy-hearted farmer Dawsey Adams ( Michiel Huisman ) writes about the Society to successful London journalist and author Juliet Ashton (James), having found her name inscribed in one of their moldering second-hand volumes. To the consternation of her editor Sidney (Matthew Goode) and American military boyfriend Mark (Glen Powell), she’s compelled to visit Guernsey for herself, though not before accepting the latter’s marriage proposal; one look at Huisman’s pained puppy-dog eyes, however, should be enough to tell any sentient viewer that this engagement isn’t likely to prove binding.

Hiding her whopper of a rock and cheerfully taking to the country air, Juliet gradually ingratiates herself with Dawsey and the Society’s other members, including lonely ginmaker Isola (a fine Katherine Parkinson, deepening and dignifying a slender sad-sack part) and fretful, clammed-up mother bear Amelia (Penelope Wilton). The more embedded she gets, the more the nervously unexplained absence of Elizabeth gnaws at her: Let the amateur detective work begin. The problem, however, is that the circumstances of Elizabeth’s disappearance are neither particularly intriguing nor, as the rather straightforward investigation unfolds, terribly surprising: Juliet’s sleuthing strategy consists mostly of asking the same questions of the same people until they get honestly answered, while nittier-grittier details are thanklessly delegated to Mark, mostly offscreen, in London. Miss Marple would have this licked in a morning, with time left over for tea and crumpets.

“It’s so compelling!” Juliet exclaims as yet another pointlessly buried secret comes shruggingly to light — the script, by this point, actively straining to convince audiences to agree with her. Happily, the relatively untaxing nature of her snooping affords Juliet plenty of time to devote to the equally urgent matter of chastely bonding with Dawsey in his fields, glazed in buttery, improbable perma-sunlight by cinematographer Zac Nicholson. Less happily, James and Huisman — both appealing, personable performers in their own right — never quite spark as a pairing, their supposed soul connection playing largely as polite rapport. If James carries proceedings with amiable pluck, “Game of Thrones” star Huisman (his accent ebbing and flowing with the Guernsey tides) is less comfortably cast in these twinkly surrounds. Their chemistry deficit makes ensemble MVP Powell, cannily mixing American-abroad glibness with harder flashes of feeling, seem doubly hard done by.

At least everyone looks splendid in costume designer Charlotte Walter’s perfectly cinched 1940s fashions, which give a rakish movie-star hang even to a Guernsey farmer’s baggy sackcloth trousers. That her ace duds here recall her lovely work on last year’s “Their Finest,” however, rather underlines how little else in Newell’s film matches the bittersweet blitheness of that similarly pitched wartime jaunt. Undemanding yet never quite effortless, agreeable yet never quite engrossing, “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” has fewer stumbling points than its loopy title, but that title sticks for longer than the rest of it.

Reviewed at Studiocanal screening room, London, April 9, 2018. Running time: 123 MIN.

Production: (U.K.-U.S.) A Netflix/Studiocanal (in U.K.) release of a Blueprint Pictures, Mazur Kaplan production. (International sales: Studiocanal, London.) Producers: Paula Mazur, Mitchell Kaplan, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin. Executive producers: Didier Lupfer, Ron Halpern, Jenny Borgars, Diarmuid McKeown. Co-producers: Celia Duval, Kimi Armstrong Stein, Ben Knight.
Crew: Director: Mike Newell. Screenplay: Don Roos, Kevin Hood, Thomas Bezucha, adapted from the novel by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows. Camera (color): Zac Nicholson. Editor: Paul Tothill. Music: Alexandra Harwood.
With: Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Glen Powell , Katherine Parkinson, Penelope Wilton, Tom Courtenay, Matthew Goode, Jessica Brown Findlay, Kit Connor.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Reviews

Director Mike Newell uses his camera to great effect, capturing beautiful vistas but also the swirling emotions of his characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2022

Watching The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie together with some friends or loved ones would be just the ticket. You just might want to keep potato peel pie off the menu.

Full Review | Aug 13, 2021

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful little film that should particularly appeal to those fond of the quaint British rural setting.

Full Review | Mar 9, 2021

A perfectly pleasant ball of period-era fluff which drifts attractively across the screen, but may not be landing in your memory for long.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 14, 2020

Many will discredit the movie, but there is something oddly charming about it. It's twee and idealistic, believing there's good in everything and everyone, and today we all need a bit of daydreaming.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 24, 2019

London author Juliet Ashton is charmed from her cosy digs, her dashing American fiancé and her solicitous publisher by a chance correspondence with a Channel Islands farmer.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 7, 2019

The film does not take risks and dangerously swims to being forgettable. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 5, 2019

This is definitely 'comfort food' for fans of period dramas like me, but fortunately a nutritious one. As a writer, one of the biggest appeal for me is how the movie is practically a wonderful love letter to the written word.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2019

It's beautifully filmed by Mike Newell and will make you want to go to the Channel Islands. Plus the best kiss of 2018

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Feb 26, 2019

A delicious mouthful - if you enjoyed 'Their Finest', you will lap this up.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 22, 2019

Enchanting performances and a captivating screenplay make The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society one of Netflix's strongest original films.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 9, 2019

There's a cosiness to the word count guzzling "Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society", in a lie-back-and-think-of-postwar-England kind of way. It doesn't entirely lack grit, but it is very successful in its emotional manipulations.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 28, 2018

A confused and largely unmemorable affair, leaving an aftertaste as unpleasant as a bite out of the titular pie.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Nov 12, 2018

An adaptation with grace, ease and, everything is said, in the most obvious way imaginable. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 26, 2018

The film contains traces of those charming Ealing comedies and their sparkling dialogue. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Oct 22, 2018

It's lovely, it's sweet, it's romantic. There's some mystery involved and a little bit of intrigue.

Full Review | Sep 13, 2018

I would highly recommend The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society whilst curled up with a blanket and a cup of tea on a dull afternoon. It won't shock or challenge you, but it will give you a sense of easygoing warmth.

Full Review | Sep 11, 2018

Newell has done a fine job of adapting an epistolary book into something more streamlined and easily digestible, even if that means leaning more into slightly conventional territory.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 8, 2018

The fine cast let us visualize the events of the book as experiences of real persons.

Full Review | Sep 6, 2018

[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society] is full of beautiful moments. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 22, 2018

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Michiel Huisman and Lily James in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review – an outbreak of world war twee

Populated by Downtown Abbey graduates, this glutinous postwar rom-dram is a load of cobblers

T ime for another outbreak of world war twee: a glutinous 40s-period exercise in British rom-dram solemnity, as if Downton Abbey were subject to a very polite Nazi occupation. (There are three graduates of that TV series in this film, and it might have been sufferable over four or five episodes at Sunday teatime.) Just reading the cutesy title made me lose the will to live halfway through.

Lily James plays Juliet Ashton, the bestselling British author of witty but shallow wartime vignettes, who is engaged to a terribly handsome American. But now the war is over, she is yearningly dissatisfied and longs for something to tap creatively into the real pain that is still in her heart (the film gestures at the bereavement she suffered in the blitz). I should admit that James does her best with all this, and wears 40s fashions with some style.

Then Juliet gets what amounts to a fan letter from one of the handsomest pig-farmers in the world, a stubbled exquisite called Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), based in Guernsey. Juliet heads down there to speak at the eccentrically named local Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society , and meet the gallery of adorable lite-eccentrics (played by the likes of Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton) whose society was born in semi-defiance of the German occupation.

Soon Juliet uncovers a painful secret, whose details are revealed and then quickly passed over. We meet a good German, a chap who helps in Dawsey’s farm like a sort of Wehrmacht James Herriot. We hear about a child who works at the island’s slave labour camp, and about a horrible moment at a concentration camp. That child, and the camp, occupy the briefest flashbacks and largely off-camera moments, before we’re whooshed back to picturesque cosiness and comfiness. Christopher Menaul’s recent movie Another Mother’s Son tackled the Channel Islands occupation with more candour. Escapist fun is great, but this is icky and naive.

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‘the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society’: film review.

Lily James stars in 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,' an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer.

By Harry Windsor

Harry Windsor

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Mike Newell made his name with a story of lovable English eccentrics in Four Weddings and a Funeral , and his latest mines a familiar seam of hot-toddy Britannia. Based on the posthumous novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society stars Lily James as Juliet Ashton, a writer on the promotional hustings in 1946 London. With a commission from The Times to write about reading, Juliet decides to visit Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands invaded by the Germans during the war, after receiving a letter from a dishy pig farmer ( Michiel Huisman ) about the origins of a local book club under the occupation.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

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Review: Netflix’s ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ is a pleasant throwback romance with a sparkling Lily James

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“The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” is an old-school, old-fashioned entertainment, a romantic drama bursting with scenic vistas and earnest charm that contains just enough mystery to keep us involved.

In fact, as efficiently directed by the veteran Mike Newell (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Enchanted April”), this is just the kind of satisfying mainstream diversion that people used to leave their homes and go out to the movies for. Until now.

For though “Guernsey” has played quite successfully theatrically in Britain, France and other countries, in the U.S. Netflix acquired the distribution rights, and not even a token theatrical release in Los Angeles is in the works at the moment.

There is one sense, however, where “Guernsey,” adapted from the Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’ bestselling novel by Thomas Bezucha, Kevin Hood and Don Roos, will look pleasantly familiar on home screens, and that is its cast.

No less than four actors, starting with star Lily James and including Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode and Penelope Wilton, had roles on PBS’ splendid “Downton Abbey” series.

James, fresh off facing off against Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” and playing a young Meryl Streep in “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,” is the undisputed star here, though brooding Dutch actor Michiel Huisman (“Game of Thrones”) gives her a run for her money as one of the most killingly handsome pig farmers in cinema history.

Though the film doesn’t let on, it’s helpful to know going in that the island of Guernsey, though officially a self-governing dependency of the British crown, is geographically closer to France than to Britain, which is why it was occupied by German troops during World War II, a key plot element.

James plays London writer Juliet Ashton, a sprightly young woman introduced in 1946, just after the war has ended, riding a bus with her handsome publisher Sidney Stark (Goode).

Ashton has just published a book, “Izzy Bickerstaff Goes to War,” written in that male character’s voice, and, eager to take on something in her own, she’s pleased but nervous when Stark tells her about an essay assignment from the London Times about the importance of reading.

Though there is tragedy in her background (her parents were killed during the Blitz), Ashton is determined to enjoy herself, and we see her dancing up a storm with a serious beau, wealthy, commanding American officer Mark Reynolds (Glen Powell).

One fateful day Ashton gets a letter from Guernsey. It’s from Dawsey Adams, that knockout handsome pig farmer, who has come across her name and address in a used book.

He introduces himself as a founding member of that Guernsey society, a book club actually, and innocently wonders if she could guide him to some other books. Because audiences have already seen what a Heathcliff look-alike Adams is, we know where this story is going well before the characters themselves.

The original “Guernsey” novel is an epistolary one, and the letters these two exchange are some of the film’s best moments.

We learn how the society was formed and how it got its odd name during that World War II occupation, and we meet its key members, including feisty guiding light Elizabeth McKenna (Brown Findlay), cantankerous postmaster Eben Ramsey (the veteran Tom Courtenay), reserved Amelia Maugery (Wilton) and eccentric Isola Pribby (Katherine Parkinson).

Intrigued by the story of how much books meant to this isolated community, how reading kept everyone sane during the war, Ashton decides these folks would make the perfect subject for that Times article and, protestations from beau Mark notwithstanding, determines to pop over to the island for a brief visit and get the story.

But while the folks on Guernsey are charmed that “a real writer has come to see us” and even offer to bake her a genuine potato peel pie (“It’s the worst,” Eben Ramsey admits), Ashton soon discovers that things there are not as unapologetically bucolic as she had imagined.

For one thing, key player Elizabeth is mysteriously off-island and no one can say when she might return. And for another, the residents are unexpectedly reticent about sharing their story and are not eager to be written about at all.

Long story short, to Ashton’s surprise but not to ours, the history of what happened on Guernsey during the Occupation turns out to be more complex than anticipated, presenting secrets to be discovered and depths to be plumbed.

Though logistical difficulties kept it from shooting on the island itself, “Guernsey’s” look (courtesy of cinematographer Zac Nicholson) is always first rate, and though her character can be a little too invasive at times, James effortlessly holds the story together.

“Guernsey” may not qualify as demanding cinema but it is eminently satisfying, and if in the final analysis it must be seen on home screens, that is preferable to no screens at all.

------------

‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’

Running time: 2 hours, 4 minutes

Playing: Streaming on Netflix

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The guernsey literary and potato peel pie society, common sense media reviewers.

Book-based post-WWII romance has some war violence.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes courage, resourcefulness, and hope in the

Heroine is rewarded for her determination, generos

A fight in a bar. Some wartime action in brief fla

One use each of "ass," "bastard," "slut."

Alcoholic beverages are consumed in multiple scene

Positive Messages

Promotes courage, resourcefulness, and hope in the face of adversity. Illustrates how one resolute individual can impact events.

Positive Role Models

Heroine is rewarded for her determination, generosity, honesty, wisdom, adventurous nature. Open to new ideas and situations, she transforms her life. Though it's set in 1945, Juliet is an example of growing female independence. Villains are prototypical Nazis, except one who behaves courageously.

Violence & Scariness

A fight in a bar. Some wartime action in brief flashbacks: Nazis menacing innocents, a hospital filled with injured soldiers, a woman chased and captured, views of a city destroyed, children being evacuated, falling tiles threaten citizens; sounds of bombs, a dead body, Nazis on the march.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Alcoholic beverages are consumed in multiple scenes: beer, wine, shots. A man is drunk in one scene; he vomits. A character smokes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a period drama/romance set in 1946 Great Britain. Based on the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, the story follows a young London writer named Juliet Ashton ( Lily James ) to Guernsey Island (in the English Channel just off the coast of Normandy), which was occupied by Nazi forces throughout World War II. The movie dramatizes the extraordinary plight of the Guernsey citizens and their resilience during the war and its aftermath. Juliet's experiences there both surprise and profoundly impact her. Flashbacks include brief scenes of wartime action, menacing Nazi officials, a city in ruins, a body, a hospital ward, and a Nazi march. A short bar fight occurs as the story unfolds. Characters drink in multiple scenes; one man is drunk, and another smokes cigarettes. Language includes "bastard," "ass," and "slut." Though there are references to war's cruelties and sad events, the movie offers a heartfelt glimpse into one of history's heartrending events. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Parents say (5)
Kids say (5)

Based on 5 parent reviews

The movie is great - but the audiobook of the novel is truly extraordinary and complimentary

What's the story.

In the midst of a blossoming career as a novelist and a romance with a charming, rich American, Juliet Ashton ( Lily James ) embarks on a pen-pal relationship with one of the members of THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY. Despite being part of the British Isles, the Island of Guernsey was occupied by the Nazis throughout World War II. The war is over. The intruders are gone. The Literary and Potato Peel Society is still thriving. Juliet is more than intrigued. With the approval of her publisher and the hopes that she may be able to write an article about the group with its puzzling name and origins, Juliet sets off for a short visit. Just as she imagined, Guernsey is a magical place. The society's members are highly original, with moving stories to tell and secrets that must be uncovered. Most compelling is a little girl, her missing mother, and a tale of formidable resistance. What started as a short visit becomes a life-affecting odyssey that changes Juliet forever.

Is It Any Good?

What might be seen by some as super sweet and predictable is leavened by the underlying pathos of wartime, an alluring mystery, and stunning photography. The super sweetness and the predictability, as a matter of fact, come directly from the novel upon which the film is based, so the creative team can't be faulted for that. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society reunites several members of the Downton Abbey cast, with Lily James (seemingly the breakout star of that series, with multiple starring roles in big studio movies) solid in the role, charming the audience with her smarts and girl-next-door appeal. Featured characters are uniformly first-rate, with the reliable Tom Courtenay and Penelope Wilton terrific as always. Mike Newell, notable for other fine period films (e.g., Great Expectations , Enchanted April ) , delivers both the emotional goods and the visuals. Though the movie was not filmed on Guernsey Island, the creative team brings the island to life using other British locations. Recommended for those who don't mind a little sugar along with their drama.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how movies can inform audiences as well as entertain them. Did you know about the German occupation of the Island of Guernsey? Were you surprised to learn that a British island had been invaded? Where would you go to find out more about these World War II events?

Juliet was tempted to publish the story of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . How did the members of the society feel about public exposure? Did you agree with her final decision? Why or why not? Given today's climate of tell-all books and social media, what is your attitude about privacy? When do you think the "right to know" supersedes privacy?

Find Guernsey Island on a map. Does the island's proximity to France help you understand how and why the Germans invaded it? Since most of us cannot travel to such places, movies are a source of what is termed "armchair travel." What special geographical locations have you "visited" in the movie theater?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : August 10, 2018
Cast : Lily James , Michiel Huisman , Penelope Wilton , Tom Courtenay
Director : Mike Newell
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Netflix
Genre : Drama
Topics : Adventures , Friendship , History
Character Strengths : Courage , Curiosity , Empathy , Integrity
Run time : 123 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
Last updated : February 18, 2023

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A Very Long Engagement

Historical Fiction

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Review

13 Feb 2018

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society

The title might be an unwieldy mouthful of words, but the rest of this charming, picturesque drama is not nearly so challenging. It’s part mystery, part love-triangle romance, unfolding with the gentility of an early-Sunday-evening BBC show. It takes place in a world where awful things happen, but our eye is always tastefully averted to prettier things. It’s escapist in several senses.

Doing most of the escaping is writer Juliet Ashton (Lily James). It’s 1946, the war is over and Juliet seems to have a lovely life. Her books have made her rich, although she has no real pride in them and publishes under a male pseudonym. She has a glamorous boyfriend (Glen Powell), although their connection doesn’t seem to go deeper than having a smashing time at parties. She is looking for her perfect home, but every dream is haunted by the death of her parents when her old home was bombed. Juliet isn’t unhappy, but she’s restless. When she receives a letter from a member of the titular book club, Dawsey Adams (Michiel Huisman), his story piques her interest enough that she sets off for Guernsey to find out more.

If the story plays out without the slightest surprise —the second you see that Dawsey is extremely handsome you know exactly where this is going — it doesn’t make it any less pleasant a watch. At its heart is a mystery, told in flashback, about what happened to one of the book club’s members (Jessica Brown Findlay), but it never feels like the driving force, more a sub-plot in its own movie. Juliet’s digging to uncover the truth doesn’t take much effort. She just asks the various members of the group and they give up the information almost immediately. The final reveal of what happened to her is more of an interesting dinner party story than a breathtaking shock.

Mike Newell ( Four Weddings And A Funeral ; Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire ) knows his way through a crowd of eccentric Brits and he has a delightful time with some here. Katherine Parkinson is sweetly airy-fairy as a generally sozzled local gin-maker, Tom Courtenay is a picture-book granddad, Penelope Wilton puts everyone in order, and Matthew Goode has a high old time as Juliet’s jaunty agent, who appears to have just the one client. It’s all just thoroughly bloody jolly. Even the Nazis do little to darken the mood, all their most horrible deeds kept far off camera and discussed in hushed tones. This could not be more British a movie: nostalgic, thoroughly well acted, abundantly leafy and told in such a gentle way as to seem almost embarrassed about imposing.

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The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society review

Lily James headlines The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Society. And here's our review...

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If you haven’t committed the title of The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society to memory, as I did before writing this review, you might need a few runs at it. Director Mike Newell’s WW2 drama adapts Mary Ann Shaffer’s novel (which was completed and published posthumously by her niece Annie Barrows) so faithfully, that even the unwieldy title stays.

The title is rationalised very early on, as the titular book club’s members are caught after curfew in Nazi-occupied Guernsey, and drunkenly invent the reason for their late night. One year after the war is over, the society comes to the attention of dissatisfied author Juliet Ashton (Lily James), when she comes into correspondence with pig farmer and founding member Dawsey (Michiel Huisman) about one of her early passion projects.

Making her excuses to her publisher Sidney (Matthew Goode) and her American beau Mark (Glen Powell), Juliet slips away to Guernsey, hoping to write a profile on the group for the Times . But once there, she becomes charmed by the island, beguiled by its pig farmer, and intrigued by the mystery surrounding the group’s founder, Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Findlay), who hasn’t yet resurfaced now that the Germans have been driven out.

Although Newell’s Harry Potter film, The Goblet Of Fire , is frequently touted among the best of that series, it has some of the same problems as this one. At least in the case of JK Rowling’s first long-read volume, there’s plenty of intrigue, but the same reverence does few favours for the screenplay of something like The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society , which relies heavily on flashbacks. All of this has happened before, and… well, that’s pretty much it actually.

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The film is dramatically inert as Juliet meanders around picturesque Guernsey (there is an inevitable “visit Guernsey” gold spot ad playing in cinemas before the film) asking different characters to recount their stories, and only very gradually getting a full picture over the course of the 124 minute running time. Without wishing to set off the film reviewer’s QI klaxon, it’s very much as bland as the dish that brings the society together.

There’s little fun in dunking on a film for which you’re not part of the target audience, so it’s worth saying that it’s not awful, merely anodyne. No one should go into this expecting something edgy, but it all feels so bland, like a milky, sugary cup of tea that’s sat too long. All of this means that among a talented and likeable cast, the two standouts appear to be acting in a different film altogether.

The first, of course, is Penelope Wilton as untrusting matriarch Amelia. Wilton is always fantastic, and she brings the emotional heft to every scene she’s in with her saddened, tragic demeanour, quite rightly guarding her friends and her secrets fiercely. And the other is Katharine Parkinson, as the island’s resident gin-distiller Isola. If you only knew her from The IT Crowd , she’d look ideally placed as the comic relief, but you’re reminded of what a fine actress she is when Isola reveals more of herself in a memorable moment later on.

But when there’s 15 and a half minutes of screentime to every word of your title, and your title is The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society , there might be just a bit more fat on your film than might suit the ‘no flour, no butter, just potatoes’ approach of occupied Guernsey. It’s awfully paced too, and the way in which the film eventually clears the board of two characters for its happy ending is particularly crass, on one count because of a character being a bit of a non-entity, and the other for the exact opposite reason.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is a picture postcard of a film, blown up to cartoonish proportions in order to drabble as much as possible on the reverse side. It’s not necessarily bad, but there are only a couple of standout performances here and there to make this worth watching. Other than those, only the title will really stick with you.

The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society is in UK cinemas now.

Mark Harrison | @MHarrison90

Mark is a writer from Middlesbrough, who once drunkenly tried (and failed) to pitch a film about his hometown to a director from Pixar. Fortunately, he…

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Netflix’s New Movie Is Perfect Comfort Food for Fans of Downton Abbey or the Brontës

Don’t let the title scare you away from the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society ..

If ever there were a movie destined for Netflix, it’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . Helmed by Four Weddings and a Funeral director Mike Newell, the film—which we’ll just call Guernsey , for brevity’s sake—wasn’t necessarily created with the streaming service in mind, seeing as it was given a more traditional theatrical run in the U.K. and elsewhere. But on Friday, Guernsey will go straight to Netflix in the U.S., and rightly so, since it’s perfect for the site’s algorithm-driven design, made with ingredients that seem selected to create the most palatable version of a particular genre. Start with a cast plucked straight from the halls of Downton Abbey, a love triangle representing the tension between city and country life, and lengthy discussions of literary staples like Charles Lamb and the Brontë sisters. Next throw in some lingering shots of the scenic English coast. Slap the word potato into the middle of its unwieldy title, and you’ve got a movie fit for “British Period Drama Featuring a Strong Female Lead.”

Guernsey takes that title from a 2008 novel written, ironically, by an American, Mary Ann Shaffer, and her niece, Annie Barrows, who finished the manuscript when Shaffer became too sick to complete it . The story, which in the novel is told entirely through letters and journal entries, follows Juliet Ashton, a London-based author who takes up correspondence with members of a peculiarly named book club on the isle of Guernsey shortly after World War II. Tasked with writing a column about reading for the Times, Juliet interviews her pen pals about life under the ( real ) Nazi occupation of the Channel Islands, during which a handful of citizens took refuge in meetings of the (fictional) Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Before she was singing and dancing as a young, overall-clad Meryl Streep , Lily James made her name playing period-drama ingénues, with a résumé that includes Downton Abbey , BBC’s War and Peace , and a breakout performance as the star of Disney’s live-action Cinderella . Maybe that’s why she looks right at home under a 1940s-style pancake beret in Newell’s adaptation of Guernsey as Juliet. How you feel about the movie as a whole will probably depend on how you feel about James herself, whether you find her oft-knitted brows and earnest delivery endearing or irritating. (I fall into the former camp.) On the island, she manages at the very least to charm two members of the Potato Peel Pie Society: The elderly Eben (Tom Courtenay), the inventor of the society’s unappetizing titular dish, and Isola (Katherine Parkinson), an eccentric bootlegger with a fondness for Victorian novels.

The club also counts two other Downton Abbey alumnae among its members: Penelope Wilton as Amelia, whose pregnant daughter was killed when the Germans invaded, and Jessica Brown Findlay as Elizabeth, an idealist who was sent away for a rebellious act of mercy during the occupation, leaving behind a young child of her own. Fans of Downton will note the typecasting of both actors, though Wilton performs maternal grief so well that it’s hard to blame Newell for letting her do her thing. Matthew Goode rounds out the Downton reunion back in London as Juliet’s publisher Sidney, who, she coyly reveals to Isola, prefers to date Georges and Toms.

Given that Sidney spends all of his time giving Juliet pep talks over the phone or scolding his hapless secretary, leaving none for romantic escapades of any kind, I can only conclude that Juliet drops this information lest we, like Isola, think of Sidney as a viable love interest for her. She’s hardly starved for choice on that front, since her chief pen pal on Guernsey is Dawsey ( Game of Thrones ’ Michiel Huisman), a sensitive pig farmer in the mold of Far From the Madding Crowd ’s Gabriel Oak—though he’s made of much blander stuff. When not dutifully raising the absent Elizabeth’s daughter, Dawsey mostly spends his days wearing sweat-soaked shirts plastered to his chest in a way that would make even Colin Firth jealous. Still, he has competition for Juliet’s affections in her brash, American fiancé, Mark ( Everybody Wants Some!! scene-stealer Glen Powell).

Guernsey ’s screenplay quickly abandons the book’s letter-writing premise for the sake of getting Juliet to the island as soon as possible and trims down the society to just a few members. The result is a less-complete picture of Guernsey under occupation and more of a mystery, with the missing Elizabeth’s fate at the center of it. The love triangle is brought to the forefront, too. In fact, the most interesting deviation from the source material involves Mark, who in the novel is little more than a Big American Obstacle to Juliet and Dawsey’s inevitable romance. Here, he’s wisely given a larger role and shaped into a far more sympathetic character, one who actually aids Juliet on her mission and whose worst crime is giving Juliet an engagement ring so enormous she’s embarrassed to be seen wearing it.

That’s not to say that Guernsey , a movie in which the bad guys are Nazis and the good guys talk very solemnly about the sanctity of literature, holds any mind-blowing revelations in store. Though Mark is the most compelling vertex on the love triangle, he’s still the James Marsden to Dawsey’s Ryan Gosling, and it’s never really in doubt which of them Juliet will end up with. Still, there’s something reassuring about a movie as conventional as Guernsey . Unlike the meager potato peel pie of its title, which is cobbled together from the only rations available to the islanders, the movie is comfort food through and through, as wholesome and predictable as a Sunday roast and as sickly sweet as sticky toffee pudding.

REVIEW: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”

Immediately after World War II the scars of German occupation ran deep across many European lands. One such place was the island of Guernsey, sitting in the English Channel just off the coast of Normandy. During the occupation many residents were taken and shipped to Nazi labor camps never to return while their families tried to survive under oppressive German rule. Guernsey was liberated in 1945 but the scars remained.

That troubling bit of history serves as a backdrop for the Netflix Original film “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”. Based on the 2008 novel of the same name, the story follows a London-based writer who becomes infatuated with a small book club from Guernsey. She’s drawn to the island in hopes of learning more about the five club members and their tangled history during the German occupation.

PHOTO: Netflix

Set in 1946, a delightful Lily James stars as Juliet. With a couple of novels under her belt, Juliet’s writing career has taken off which pleases her encouraging publisher Sidney (Matthew Goode). She has signed on to write stories for the London Times and she has a wealthy American boyfriend (Glen Powell) who is quite keen on marrying her. Things couldn’t be better.

One day she receives a letter from a man named Dawsey (Michiel Huisman) from Guernsey. He had come across a book that once belonged to her and had shared it with his book club (you guessed it – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ). His hopes are Juliet could steer him towards another book by the same author. She sends him a copy as a gift and writes back inquiring about the Society. And so their correspondence begins.

As Juliet learns more about the Society through Dawsey’s letters she is inspired to write about them. She travels to Guernsey to meet the small group she has become so enamored with. As she digs deeper into their backstory she uncovers some old but still painful wounds traced back to the German occupation. Some of the Society are willing to help her, most notably Dawsey (enter the romantic angle). Others want no part of the memories her questions bring back.

Director Mike Newell uses his camera to great effect, capturing beautiful vistas but also the swirling emotions of his characters. A really good cast fleshes out the unique personalities Juliet encounters within the Society, specifically Tom Courtenay, Penelope Wilton, and Katherine Parkinson. Each are given plenty of time to reveal more about their characters as Juliet’s investigation unfolds.

“Guernsey” could be called too simple and it hits a point where it becomes obvious how things will play out. Yet it’s still a warm and well-crafted story with a charming, old-fashioned flavor to it. Lily James sparkles in the lead role and a strong supporting cast breathes personality and emotion. I found it to be a nice, unexpected surprise and another good pickup for Netflix.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ Will Make You Happy: Movie Review

Minor Spoilers

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of my favorite books, so you can imagine how excited I was for the release of the film adaptation. As soon as the film became available on Netflix this past week, I watched it. And while the film is not as good as the book, it’s still a wonderful old-fashioned romance full of love, friendship, tragedy, and joy. In all, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a romantic period drama triumph that should make both book fans and non-book fans happy.

The Story – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Film Review: The New Adaptation Will Make You Happy

If you haven’t read the book, the film tells the story of Juliet Ashton, a writer in London during post World War II. While exchanging letters with a man named Dawsey from the island of Guernsey, she becomes intrigued about his stories of the residents in a book club during the German occupation. So, she travels there to write a story about their unique experiences during the war (shown in flashbacks) and ends up falling in love with the people and the place.

The Setting

Now, I’ve recently visited Guernsey and it’s obvious the movie was not filmed on location. However, they picked a beautiful, similar locale that reminds you of this magical place. And hopefully, the film and book will inspire more people to visit in the way Sullivan’s adaptation of Anne of Green Gables inspired fans to visit Prince Edward Island.

Book Vs. Film

In the film adaptation, fewer letters are exchanged between Juliet and Dawsey before she goes to Guernsey. And the characters are introduced in completely different ways. Not only that, the character of Elizabeth McKenna (the leader of the literary society in the past) doesn’t quite shine as much as she does in the book. Her heroism is all still there, just abbreviated to fit a two-hour film. One almost wishes this could have been a mini-series so we could see more of Elizabeth – arguably the real heroine of the novel.

Book fans should also expect many scenes to be cut due to length or even changed. However, the film captures the essence of the book and does not change the story or the characters. So, as an adaptation, the film is quite successful. And as a standalone, the audience should enjoy the movie and understand the entire story. But if you haven’t read the book, I recommend you check it out to get more fleshed-out versions of everything you see on screen. You won’t be sorry!

The Characters and Cast

'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' Will Make You Happy: Movie Review

If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey , then you’ll appreciate the mini-reunion with four cast members starring in this film (Lily James, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode, and Penelope Wilton). The rest of the cast also shines in their roles with each character mostly feeling like they walked off the pages of the book.

In the lead, you have Lily James as Juliet Ashton, a writer with a streak of independence and a longing to find a place that feels like home. While some of her wit was lost in the adaptation as well as a few years cut off from the book character’s age, James still gives a wonderful performance and believably embodies Juliet Ashton.

RELATED | THEIR FINEST – A BRILLIANT NEW ROMANTIC HISTORICAL THAT WILL MAKE YOU CRY

As Dawsey, the farmer who loves books, is Michiel Huisman ( The Age of Adaline ) who continues to prove he’s perfect leading man material.

Then there’s Jessica Brown Findlay as the brave Elizabeth McKenna who always follows her heart. And really could anyone have played this part so well?.

In the role of the boyfriend is Glen Powell ( Set it Up ) as the slightly controlling American in love with Juliet. Then there’s Matthew Goode as Sidney Starke, Juliet’s publisher. Arguably the closest to the character and best cast of the production – if only he had more screen time.

And to top it off, a group of scene-stealers play the other members of the literary society brilliantly. There’s Penelope Wilton as Amelia Maugery, a woman in mourning; Katherine Parkinson ( Doc Martin ) as Isola Pribby, a quirky spinster with a lot of soul; and Tom Courtenay ( Doctor Zhivago, Little Dorrit ) as Eben Ramsey, an older man with a heart of gold.

The Romance

While the film doesn’t play the mystery of who Juliet falls in love with as much as the book does, fans of old-fashioned romance will love this movie. The love story that builds between Dawsey and Juliet is beautiful to watch onscreen. The chemistry between the actors is believable, and the audience will definitely root for their love story.

And on a fun note, fans of North and South (2004) will love the (near) ending of the movie which is similar in style to the ending of the popular BBC miniseries. Once you watch, you should know what I mean!

The Production Quality

Mike Newell ( Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ) as director crafted a stunning old-fashioned romance sure to be a popular choice amongst period drama aficionados for years to come. The cinematography is gorgeous with the color schemes perfectly matching the moods and themes of the story. The costumes capture the essence and sometimes glamour of the 1940s and the hairstyles are beautiful.

Overall, if you enjoyed the novel, love period dramas, mystery, believe in the magic of books, appreciate fantastic acting or a good story, then you’ll likely love this film. Sure, it’s not “exactly” the book. But the essence remains intact. The film is important because it’s the type of movie we need more of in this world. And besides, any film that has a scene with characters debating which Brontë sister was the most revolutionary for women is an automatic win for me!

Where to Watch: Now streaming on Netflix

Content Note: PG-13/TV-14 for war-related themes and tense moments.

Have you watched The Guernsey and Literary Potato Peel Pie Society ? What did you think of the film adaptation?

Photos: Netflix/Studio Canal

OVERALL RATING

“The stuff that dreams are made of.”

ROMANCE RATING

“You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope.

I have loved none but you.”

ARE YOU A ROMANCE FAN? FOLLOW THE SILVER PETTICOAT REVIEW:

Amber works as a writer and digital publisher full-time and fell in love with stories and imagination at an early age. She has a Humanities and Film Degree from BYU, co-created The Silver Petticoat Review, contributed as a writer to various magazines, and has an MS in Publishing from Pace University, where she received the Publishing Award of Excellence and wrote her thesis on transmedia, Jane Austen, and the romance genre. Her ultimate dreams are publishing books, writing and producing movies, traveling around the world, and forming a creative village of talented storytellers trying to change the world through art.

6 thoughts on “‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’ Will Make You Happy: Movie Review”

I just read the book for the first time this spring in preparation for the movie. I love both. I didn’t notice the similarity between the end of this and North and South until you mentioned it. But yes!!! I also admit to crying as the characters read passages from books while the end credits rolled.

Yeah, I agree. Both are great. And the similarity is there, right? My sister pointed it out and I thought she was spot on about it. Yeah, the ending was lovely!

Yes, this movie! Hits so many of my buttons 🙂 I keep a list of movies for writers and this one is going on there for sure. It’s been a long time since I read the novel, so I’d have to re-read it to see the differences.

Yeah, I love that this movie is about a writer. I relate so much to her in the book and film. And this is a great film to add to a list of movies for writers! There are some differences but I’m happy they kept the essence of the book intact. 🙂

I actually watched the movie first before reading the book. I must say I think I preferred the movie. As you said, the cast was excellent – I was fond of Tom Courtenay’s character, Eben. Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd as well as Doc Martin) was a surprise – I didn’t know she was going to be in it. Lily James was perfectly cast, as was Michiel Huisman (I love The Age of Adeline!!). This is a movie that I will watch again!

The movie is very good with a fabulous cast! And definitely one to watch again. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!

Movie Review: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”

Good morning and Happy Labor Day! After spending a glorious weekend at my aunt and uncle’s lake house, sitting on the dock with the wind and waves, enjoying brownies and barbecue, baiting my own fishing hooks with LIVE SHRIMP and also baiting crab traps with FROZEN FISH with my bare hands (see how I rose to the occasion with courage and fortitude?), I’m back in my writing nook. I’m resting up, checking the updates for that tropical storm that’s headed our way (hardly the storm of the century–we’ll be fine)…and still pondering over the beautiful film I finally got to see with my mom, sisters, grandmother, aunt, and cousin this weekend.

In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war. –IMDB summary

I don’t (and will probably never) have Netflix. It’s one of the few disadvantages of living out in the sticks: satellite internet with a strict bandwidth cap simply won’t permit it.

My grandmother, however, suggested that we watch it while we were at the lake house–and sure enough, my aunt and uncle have a Netflix account and all the other ladies in the family were eager to see it, too! So we unfolded the couch beds, sipped coffee, and crowded around for a cozy afternoon with some of my most beloved fictional friends.

Juliet Ashton (played by the ever-wonderful Lily James) is still adjusting to the realities of post-war life. She wants to write “a serious book,” something completely different from the humorous ones she penned during the war to keep herself and her fellow Englanders from despair. While searching for that perfect subject she begins an unexpected correspondence with Dawsey Adams, a pig farmer on the Island of Guernsey, who tells her about a book club he and his friends formed during the Nazi occupation of the island.

The more Juliet learns about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the more intrigued she is–not only by the idea of books carrying this close-knit community through hard times, but by the members of the society themselves. Most fascinating of all is Elizabeth McKenna, the society’s high-spirited founder…who, for some mysterious reason, is nowhere to be found when Juliet finally comes to visit Guernsey.

Juliet meets resistance, puzzles, and internal conflict along the way, but she’s convinced there’s a story on Guernsey that must be told…if only she has the courage to write it.

The movie did not disappoint. There were definitely some changes from the book, some of which were pretty major–but I understood why they changed what they did. The book is an epistolary novel, which means it’s told solely through letters between the characters (and, at the very end, some hilarious journal entries), and I can only imagine how difficult it must’ve been to adapt a narrative like that to a screenplay. The writers did a good job, in my opinion, of condensing the story for the big screen.

It’s a visually delightful film, too. I want Juliet’s entire wardrobe, haha! And the island of Guernsey–absolutely stunning. The cast couldn’t have been more perfect. Michael Huisman’s Dawsey is exactly how I envisioned him in the book: quiet, hard-working, and gentle. Isola Pribby, the hilarious red-headed herbalist, could’ve been reduced to a two-dimensional caricature, yet Katherine Parkinson played her with such depth and tenderness. Penelope Wilton’s Amelia and Tom Courtenay’s Eben were fantastic, while Jessica Brown Findlay portrayed Elizabeth with fire and compassion. And Matthew Goode as Juliet’s publisher Sidney Stark–ohhhh my goodness. Months ago when I found out who was playing Sidney Stark, I was beside myself. HE WAS BORN FOR THIS ROLE.

But it was a conversation between Sidney and Juliet that made me cry. I can’t find the exact quotes anywhere on the Internet–if someone could direct me towards a transcript I will be indebted to you–but it’s at the darkest point of the story. Juliet is at the end of her rope; she doesn’t believe she’ll ever be able to tell this story, and she tells Sidney, tearfully, “ I’m afraid .”

And Sidney Stark, her distinguished publisher and her best friend, he gets down on his knees beside her and says something along the lines of, “Ah. She doubts. She doesn’t believe. She craves being taken seriously but then she won’t do that for herself.”

And that’s when I started crying. Because I’ve been Juliet–I’ve been so paralyzed by fear, I could hardly get a word down–and you know who’s been my Sidney Stark this whole time? My mom, who sat right beside me on that fold-out couch bed, patting my knee gently while I cried and cried and Sidney continued to encourage Juliet, reminding her that she is more than capable of telling this beautiful story: “I think you’re better than you yet know. And as your friend, of many, many, many years, I’ve seen you reach for what you want. You have that courage. ”

I’m crying again as I write this; that’s how deeply this scene affected me. People don’t often realize just how hard and lonely a writer’s work can be sometimes. We have to remind ourselves, constantly, that all those hours slogging away at plots and characters and research count for something , that we’re doing work that matters . But when we struggle to get those words on paper, or when we’re afraid we won’t be able to do those stories justice, it feels like we’re drowning.

Sidney Stark, however, reminded me (just like my mom does, all the time) that my stories do matter. By God’s grace I do have the courage and the strength to write the stories He’s given me, the ones that need to be told–even though the weight of those stories can scare me half to death sometimes.

“If books do have the power to bring people together,” Juliet tells her Guernsey friends when she sends them her manuscript, “this one may work its magic.” And that is the message of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . Stories have power–beautiful, frightening, majestic power–and so long as those stories are full of light and hope and goodness, then they can (and will) carry us through the bleakest times.

“The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society”: A SCENES Review

By the trailer’s end, tears gushed down my cheeks. I needed to see this movie. My life would not be complete until I had done so.

It took about two seconds to figure out why Jamie shared the trailer with me – it’s about a writer who finds her best story and best love all in one go ( goals ).

Weeks later, my boyfriend’s grandparents plopped a stack of movies down for us to take our pick for movie night. After a big day at the beach, I felt keener to hit the sack than watch a flick. I opened my mouth to say, “rain check,” then shut it so hard I almost bit my tongue.

For right on top of the pile, there it was: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I emitted a squeal of joy instead.

In the end, I was the only one who stayed awake the whole movie. If you’d seen how hard we went at the beach, you’d trust this is not a testament to the movie being boring, but rather to how wildly exhilarating and insanely inspirational it really was. It is a historical romance of the highest order.

I went from barely being able to keep my eyes open to wide-eyed and open-mouthed, fully prepared to stay up all night writing a 200 page novel: I’d do whatever it took for my fate to mirror that of the movie’s main character, published writer Juliet Ashton (Lily James). I leaned forward on the couch, practically drooling as I gulped in every scene from start to finish.

The scene is post World War II Great Britain, an aesthetic (think Outlander ) that fosters a sort of tragic, longing romanticism – not to mention style – that always leaves me yearning to have lived in that time.

And the leading lady is perfect for the setting. I didn’t realize how much I love Lily James as I haven’t yet seen Darkest Hour or Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again , but from the second she stepped onto the streets of London as Juliet, I was devoted. And Juliet’s best friend and publisher, Sidney, is none other than Matthew William Goode, who we’ve all loved since Chasing Liberty and Leap Year .

It wouldn’t be until 20 years after Shaffer read these histories that she began writing The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Shaffer died before it was published. When she fell ill, she asked her sister’s daughter, Annie Barrows – a successful author of children’s literature – to complete the final round of the book’s edits after her death.

So now you get the Guernsey part, but what about the strangest bit of the title – the “Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society”? I’ll just tell you it’s an illicit local dinner party’s way of outsmarting the Nazis to spare their lives. You’ll have to watch the movie to see just how they pull it off.

This film illustrated disturbing details about the devastation wreaked by Nazi occupation in places and ways I hadn’t previously considered. I vaguely knew the Channel Islands marked the only part of Great Britain the Nazis occupied during WWII. But I didn’t know the Nazis sent prisoners of war to the islands for forced labor to build hideous fortifications in these previously picturesque communities. I also didn’t know all the children from the Channel Islands were shipped away from their homes and parents just before the occupation began, separating them for five interminable years.

I came away with a broader understanding of the atrocities of the Nazi reign. Sometimes stories that need to be told are painful to witness. But the dark knowledge they instill hopefully will help keep the world from ever allowing such darkness again.

Despite this story’s demonstration of the depths of Nazi cruelty, it also reminds us that even the most evil organism can have good components. No matter how murderous and vile (can you think of any group easier to hate as a whole than the Nazis?), it is never acceptable to categorize every member of a group as bad (as, for instance, the Nazis did with their undeserving victims).

An utterly forbidden, but unavoidable, bond of love between the Society’s founder, Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Findlay) and a Nazi officer assigned to Guernsey during the occupation demonstrates this principle to the utmost. The consequences of their love affects every other of the story’s characters irrevocably.

My favorite aspect of the movie was the strong female character who is Juliet Ashton. She is a female writer who doesn’t care if anyone reads her books or not – (for instance, her biography of Anne Brontë, which sold 28 copies worldwide). She writes because she loves it. She writes because she believes in, is compelled by, and herself has been saved by the power of books .

Fittingly, it is through the power of books that she discovers and procures (after a dramatic love triangle) the love of her life. And best of all, in the closing scene, it is SHE who proposes to her love that he marry her.

And he says yes. Because a story this tragic deserves a happy ending.

Virginia Schmidt

Virginia is a writer + multimedia storyteller born, raised, & based in wild northwestern Wyoming. Ever curious & game for adventure, she's keen to travel as far & wide as she can, meeting characters, experiencing culture, & capturing + sharing stories all along the way.

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Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society film review Salt Iron Seasoned Writing Elizabeth Hance

Film Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“If books do have the power to bring people together, maybe this one will work its magic.”

This sentiment is at the core of the recent film adaptation of Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’s charming novel, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society . In this story, books establish romances, unlikely friendships, and new life directions.

The film’s heroine, London-based author Juliet Ashton, finds comfort in books and her writing career in the wake of World War II. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, a group of friends on the island of Guernsey takes comfort from their weekly book club, which had become their saving grace when Nazis took over their island during the war. The club members have dubbed themselves “the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” in reference to their love of literature and to a pie made from potatoes and potato peels, which they ate at their first meeting. Food scarcity during the war made real desserts scarce, but they found humor in it when they faced it together at their meetings.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society opens in the aftermath of the war and focuses on Juliet Ashton’s unlikely friendship with these book club members on Guernsey. Those relationships, which grow from perseverance during hardship and a common love for books, are the lifeblood of this screen adaptation and do excellent justice to the original novel.

As a devoted fan of the book, I approached the movie with cautious optimism and was pleased overall with the result. Though the film structures the story differently than it is presented in the book, the movie retained the joyful spirit of its source material and stayed true to the book’s themes of friendship, love for reading, and the power of books to enrich the lives of individuals and communities.

Different Structure

The novel version is unique, as the story unfolds almost exclusively through letters exchanged between the primary characters. It’s a delight to read, but as this format would be difficult to translate to a screen, the fundamental changes for the film were understandable overall.

In the book, Juliet Ashton is a London-based writer who is searching for a new writing project. In the midst of this career uncertainty, she unexpectedly builds pen-pal friendships with the group of Guernsey islanders who formed their book club during World War II. Soon, she expresses interest in her letters to all of them that she might like to write about their book club for her next writing endeavor, and she gains their trust as they continue to exchange letters. After many months and many letters, she does write about them, and then she excitedly travels to Guernsey to spend personal time with the people she has already come to know on paper.

By contrast, the film depicts Juliet as much more eager to meet the Guernsey book club members in person almost immediately. While she does still exchange letters before traveling to Guernsey, she does not wait long to go, and she has only written to one of the book club members before deciding to try to meet all of them in person. When she arrives in Guernsey onscreen, she appears initially too eager, even off-putting for some of the Guernsey residents, and she soon realizes she must learn how to win the islanders’ trust during her stay. This is a noticeable contrast to the book, in which she was sure of the affection and trust of all the book club members before she went to Guernsey.

In the film, Juliet’s need to prove herself worthy of the islanders’ trust drives the other main difference from the book. The founder of the Guernsey book club, Elizabeth McKenna, is also central to the story. In both the book and the movie, Elizabeth remains physically absent from Guernsey, and the audience learns her story alongside Juliet. Eventually, Juliet learns that Elizabeth was arrested and deported from Guernsey before the end of the war, and her fate becomes a key plot point. The film ties Elizabeth and Juliet more closely together than the book by giving Juliet a major part in discovering what became of Elizabeth. This role helps Juliet do the work of winning over the approval of other members of the Guernsey book club.

In the book, however, Juliet remains a spectator of Elizabeth’s fate along with her Guernsey friends. She has already grown close to them by the time Elizabeth’s fate becomes known in the book, so she is able to walk that journey with them. It is understandable that the film would see a need to give Juliet a more active role in this storyline since onscreen, she still has to win their full trust after meeting them.

Despite these differences, the film’s emotional heart and message delighted me just as much as the book’s. Books, friendship, and community amidst trial are at the forefront of both. In the book and the film, books and reading are the launching points for Juliet’s connection to the islanders. The film also rightly emphasizes how both Juliet and the Guernsey residents have found comfort and safety in books and community during the harrowing years of World War II.

In the novel, the mother figure of the book club, Amelia Maugery, writes to Juliet, “our evenings together became bright, lively times – we could almost forget, now and then, the darkness outside.” In the film, another club member, a farmer named Dawsey Adams, writes a similar sentiment to Juliet about how the book club helped them during the war: “Our Friday night book club became a refuge for us, a private freedom to feel the world growing darker all around you but needing only a candle to see new worlds unfold.”

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful novel about friendship, reading, and surviving tragedy. Overall, the film adaptation adheres to these themes beautifully, despite its variations in structure from the book. The movie is carried by a talented cast and gorgeous scenery and cinematography, but the messages about community and love of reading give the film its greatest strength. Audiences will come away from the film with new inspiration to persevere in their friendships, consider how reading has enriched their lives, and perhaps take steps to build new friendships through books as the characters in the film do.

Author: Elizabeth Hance

IMAGES

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‎The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) directed by
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society movie review (2018
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Movie Review
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Film Review

COMMENTS

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
Having said that, I whole-heartedly love "The Sound of Music," and I have little doubt many viewers will warm to this cozy Netflix Original Movie. "The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" is being released a mere three weeks after "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again," another summer crowd-pleaser tinged with melancholy. Both films ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. 2018, Drama/Romance, 2h 4m. 81%. Tomatometer 74 Reviews. 81%. Audience Score 1,000+ Ratings.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Directed by Mike Newell. With Jessica Brown Findlay, Tom Courtenay, Michiel Huisman, Katherine Parkinson. In the aftermath of World War II, a writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review - a recipe for whimsy This article is more than 5 years old Lily James leads a cosy tale about a writer visiting a book club in the ...
'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' Review
Film Review: 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'. That tongue-twisting title promises something more eccentric than Mike Newell's anodyne mix of post-WWII romance, mystery and ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful little film that should particularly appeal to those fond of the quaint British rural setting. Full Review | Mar 9, 2021.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review
Juliet heads down there to speak at the eccentrically named local Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and meet the gallery of adorable lite-eccentrics (played by the likes of Tom ...
'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society': Film Review
Lily James stars in 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society,' an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer. Mike Newell made his name with a story of lovable English ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Drama. Romance. War. Directed By: Mike Newell. Written By: Don Roos, Kevin Hood, Thomas Bezucha, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 10 Critic Reviews. 65.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)
Juliet Ashton (Lily James) The Guernsey Literary Society and Potato Peel Pie Society will make you long for a permanent return of the old-fashioned, tear-jerking, gorgeously photographed war-drama romance. Together with the similar Summerland in recent Netflix release, Guernsey displays the Brits' gift for crafting melodrama and morality in the ...
Review: Netflix's 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is an old-school, old-fashioned entertainment, a romantic drama bursting with scenic vistas and earnest charm that contains just enough mystery ...
Netflix's Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society review: Sweet
A movie as snug and sweet and congenitally British as a tea cozy, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society also feels like it could be defined by a word from their Scandinavian neighbors ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Movie Review
Parents need to know that The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a period drama/romance set in 1946 Great Britain. Based on the best-selling novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, the story follows a young London writer named Juliet Ashton to Guernsey Island (in the English Channel just off the coast of Normandy), which was occupied by Nazi forces throughout World War II.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Review
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. The title might be an unwieldy mouthful of words, but the rest of this charming, picturesque drama is not nearly so challenging. It's part ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Language. English. Box office. $23 million [1] The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a 2018 historical romantic drama film directed by Mike Newell and written by Kevin Hood, Don Roos and Tom Bezucha, based on the 2008 novel of the same name by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The film stars Lily James, Michiel Huisman, Glen ...
The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society review
Making her excuses to her publisher Sidney (Matthew Goode) and her American beau Mark (Glen Powell), Juliet slips away to Guernsey, hoping to write a profile on the group for the Times.But once ...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society movie review: Netflix
If ever there were a movie destined for Netflix, it's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.Helmed by Four Weddings and a Funeral director Mike Newell, the film—which we'll just ...
REVIEW: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"
Guernsey was liberated in 1945 but the scars remained. That troubling bit of history serves as a backdrop for the Netflix Original film "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society". Based on the 2008 novel of the same name, the story follows a London-based writer who becomes infatuated with a small book club from Guernsey.
'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' Will Make You Happy
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary novel written with only letters, which is not easy to translate to the screen. But thankfully, the screenwriter and director were able to pull it off. However, book fans will need to prepare for some changes and missing elements. As well as some of your favorite characters ...
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY & POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY
In cinemas April 20th. Follow @GuernseyMovie on Instagram for the latest updates.Lily James plays free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton, who forms a life-changi...
Movie Review: "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society * has been one of my favorite books for a long time. In fact, it's dethroned The Help as my favorite book; I've read it more times than I can count, and it never gets old. So when I found out about the new movie I was over the moon-until I also found out it wouldn't be in American theaters.
"The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society": A SCENES Review
The movie is based on a historical novel of the same name, written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows and published in 2008. It's an epistolary novel composed entirely of letters the characters pen to each other in 1946. It's not based on a true story, but rather inspired by histories Shaffer read about Germany's WWII occupation of ...
Film Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a delightful novel about friendship, reading, and surviving tragedy. Overall, the film adaptation adheres to these themes beautifully, despite its variations in structure from the book. The movie is carried by a talented cast and gorgeous scenery and cinematography, but the messages about ...