M, 115 minutes
4 Stars
Review by © Jane Freebury
The tale of a long-distance walk, while not bristling with tension, can hold its own at the movies. Despite the slow pace and the low stakes.
Obstacles to progress are there, ranging from rugged terrain to wild storms to lousy maps. The sort of things that are way more likely than any encounter with a dangerous feral animal, so the thrills are only intermittent. Wild creatures may be out there but the joint pain or callouses from a poor choice in footwear, or an incompatible walking partner could be even worse.
Some choose to go it alone. A fit and determined Reese Witherspoon was inspiring in the role of a walker who trekked more than 1,000 miles along west coast USA, determined to put her life together again by doing the impossible. Her film Wild was based on an amazing feat achieved in real life.
The Camino de Santiago, a route once taken by medieval pilgrims to a cathedral in the northwest of Spain has been really popular. The Way, a film with Martin Sheen as a grieving father who suddenly sets out on the walking trail after the death of the son who was on the point of making the trek himself, is probably the best known.
In the recent Australian film, The Way, My Way, the same journey is undertaken by a curmudgeon with sore feet, inclined to lecture his fellow wayfarers on what’s best for them. It is one of a spate of films, doco and fiction feature, about the transformative experience of the long-distance walk.
It’s a topic that seems to work best when based on reality. Who else felt a bit miffed to discover that The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was based on fiction? There is absolutely no chance of that here in The Salt Path.
A journey inwards as much as it is a long trek along the coast
Few choices remain for Moth and Raynor Winn, a couple who had a small rural holding, when they find themselves homeless in their early fifties. Their farm, the childhood home of their family, is suddenly repossessed, leaving them destitute. Much worse still is a recent medical diagnosis that identified issues that Moth was dealing with. He has CBD, a condition that manifests in shrinkage of the brain.
To find some direction for their uncertain future together, the pair set off in August 2013 to walk the south-west coast of England, from Minefield to Poole. A journey of 630 miles.
The Salt Path is based on the best-selling book that Raynor wrote about this singular experience. It was adapted for the screen by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Marianne Elliott, a theatre director of note.
With actors like Jason Isaacs (as Moth) and Gillian Anderson (as Ray) involved, the film enjoys significant gravitas. They are a terrific pair, with over 100 award nominations and 50 wins between them. There may be little dramatic scope for characters who can only manage a step at a time, but they each bring dignity to their plight, contributing sensitive and nuanced performances as a couple with nowhere else to go, and nothing left but each other.
A couple with nowhere else to go and nothing left but each other
It also comes as a shock that homelessness could possibly impact people like them, camping out, scrabbling for food and being scolded by strangers and told to move on.
On screen the chronology is a little muddled with Moth and Ray already well on their journey at the start and their plight, including the visit by bailiffs resulting in eviction and the consultations with medical specialists, explained in flashback. Through it all, the couple’s two adult children who live and work elsewhere are largely unseen.
On the other hand, the beauty of nature is outstanding. Award-winning cinematographer Helene Louvart has created an immersive experience along the sculpted cliffs, rocky shorelines and sheltered leafy woodlands along the way. It isn’t hard to see how time spent in nature was a vital healing experience for them both.
For Ray and Moth, it is really a journey inward, as the difficulties they encounter constantly test their resolve. Self-sufficient as they camp out in the wilds, somehow subsisting with their meagre bank balance on instant noodles, shared tea bags and water, and picking berries from bushes if they’re lucky. No high and lows here, it’s just a simple, human story of love, friendship and resolve.
Published by the Canberra Times on 17 May 2025, and on Rotten Tomatoes
Featured image of Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson in The Salt Path courtesy Transmission Films