Billie Gadsdon

Billie Gadsdon looks before she reacts in The Magic Faraway Tree (2026), and the pause matters. As Fran Thompson, she seems to be discovering what is in front of her, rather than supplying excitement because a family film requires it. We warmed to her because she gives that curiosity time to register. She carries more of the film than anyone without the forced brightness that can make a child lead exhausting. It is assured work in a film we recommend only with reservations.

Her credits have often asked her to be somebody else's younger self. In The Spanish Princess (2020) she played young Mary; in Cruella (2021), Estella at five. Here (2024) gave her young Elizabeth, within Robert Zemeckis's fixed-camera account of a living room across a century. We found that film short of story and heavy on dialogue that announced its meanings. Those shortcomings give us no reason to find fault with Gadsdon, whose contribution was not the problem our review identified.

The Magic Faraway Tree gives her a more substantial task, alongside an adult cast who understand the tone. Andrew Garfield's father, Tim, is cheerful beyond what his circumstances warrant; Claire Foy's Polly finds comedy in being the sensible parent. Gadsdon's unforced reactions belong comfortably alongside that work. Simon Farnaby's adaptation is kind and often funny, but it is so anxious to keep worry at bay that little happens for long. That limits what even a capable cast can make us care about.

We would like to see that watchfulness tested by a story less anxious about upsetting its audience. Fran establishes that Gadsdon can sustain our interest without pushing for it, but one substantial performance is no reason to prescribe the rest of her working life. There is time for other kinds of parts. Start with The Magic Faraway Tree if gentle family fantasy is what the evening requires, with allowances for a film that could stand to worry its audience a little.