Military Wives trailer: first look at the film based on Gareth Malone’s real-life choir

17 December 2019, 16:53 | Updated: 24 March 2020, 15:56

Watch the Military Wives trailer starring Kristin Scott Thomas

By Rosie Pentreath

Military Wives is the film version of the musical phenomenon that has changed the lives of wives and girlfriends of servicemen, and other women with a military connection.

The first look trailer for Military Wives, a film directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty) and starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan, is here – watch above.

Military Wives is described as a feel-good film and “an inspirational story of friendship, love, and support on the home front”.

The film follows Kate (Scott Thomas) and Lisa (Horgan) as they help form and lead a choir of women whose partners are serving in Afghanistan, and which soon finds itself at the centre of international media attention.

The choir isn’t without its challenges and the women don’t always see eye-to-eye, but the beauty and hope in making music in a group is what prevails and ultimately gives the women the support they need to get through missing, and worrying about, loved ones fighting abroad.

Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon Horgan star in the film Military Wives. Picture: Lionsgate Films

What is the Military Wives Choir?

The 2020 Military Wives film is based on choirmaster Gareth Malone’s real-live choir of the same name, originally established to bring together the wives, girlfriends, partners and fellow servicewomen of members of the armed forces deployed in Afghanistan.

Formed at the Royal Marines Base Chivenor, the original Military Wives Choir was featured in the fourth season of Malone’s success TV series, The Choir.

Following the series, the choir’s single ‘Wherever You Are’ was released as a single and made Christmas No.1 in 2011, selling over 500,000 copies within a week.

Several albums followed and the Military Wives Choir grew into 74 choirs based across the UK and in British military bases abroad, with over 2,000 women with a military connection involved.

“Research shows that singing in a choir helps to alleviate stress and contributes to an improvement in isolation, anxiety and depression,” the Military Wives Choirs website says. “[The choirs] therefore have a vital role to play by bringing women in the military community together to sing, share and support one another.”

The film, Military Wives, is based on the choir’s inspirational story and rise to fame. As well as the challenges of making music with a range of abilities and the pressures that come with performing, the film represents the choir’s message of hope and its ability to support people associated with the military and those who have family in wartime roles.

Military Wives, released in 2020, is based on Gareth Malone’s choir of the same name. Picture: Lionsgate Films

Who worked on the music for the Military Wives film?

The score for the film version of Military Wives has been written by Lorne Balfe, who has worked on music for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, The Dark Knight and Mission Impossible: Fallout.

More recently, Balfe scored the YTV series His Dark Materials. And he’s previously worked with the legendary Hans Zimmer in LA, so we can expect great things.

Who’s in the cast of Military Wives?

Kristin Scott Thomas plays Kate, the wife of a colonel serving in Afghanistan, and Sharon Horgan plays Lisa who helps her form and lead a choir of women.

Greg Wise (A Private War) and Jason Flemyng (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) are also in the cast, along with Emma Lowndes (Downton Abbey), Gaby French (Victoria), Lara Rossi (Robin Hood), Amy James-Kelly (Safe) and India Ria Amarteifio (Line of Duty).