Biographical drama The Salt Path tells the true story of a couple who lose their home and embark on a year-long coastal walk, despite one of them also being diagnosed with a terminal illness. It’s an inspiring film, set against a beautiful backdrop says Giles Gough. But there’s also spiritual wisdom to be gleaned
In the screen adaption of Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir, The Salt Path, Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson play Moth and Raynor, a couple who lose their home and, soon after, discover that Moth has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
With bailiffs at the door and nowhere else to go, Moth and Ray decide to trek the 630-mile Southwest coast path from Minehead, Somerset through Devon and Cornwall to Poole, Dorset.
It is, by any reasonable metric, an insane decision. But when forced into a corner, insane choices are sometimes the only ones left. And upon closer inspection, it does actually make some sort of sense. Nominally, walking the coast path gives them time to think and regroup; when their only income is Moth’s £49 a week disability benefit, living in a tent reduces their overheads and allows them to buy enough food to survive.
Set in 2013, only a few years into the Conservative austerity drive that would essentially cripple the welfare state, this could so easily be a grimmer film than it is – an I, Daniel Blake with added walking. And yet, the two central characters prevent it from descending into that.
Firm foundation
Jason Isaacs is absolutely transformed in this film. Gillian Anderson, demonstrably beautiful in any decade, carries the overwhelming weight of the situation on her face throughout. Flashbacks show that Moth is the hopeful one in the relationship, trying to stop his wife from spiralling into despair. But his unfounded optimism only strengthens Ray’s isolation and feelings that her spouse is not grasping the reality of their situation.
Ultimately, Moth and Raynor’s love for one another is what makes this a remarkable story. As a couple in their early 50s, their frustration with their circumstances only bubble over in one scene. He berates her for not properly ordering the evidence needed to win their court case and save their home. She snaps back about the bad investment he made in the first place - and then the conflict is just…done. Their circumstances would have broken many relationships, but not theirs. Clearly, Raynor Winn should be writing not just travel diaries, but marriage books!
Lessons in love
If you’re looking for a story about enduring love or the rejuvenating power of nature, then you’ll find it both in The Salt Path. But if you are looking for biblical parallels, you really don’t have to look hard either.
In a line from the book (that sadly doesn’t make it into the film), Ray says: “I don’t believe in God, in any higher force. We live, we die, the carbon cycle keeps running, but please God please, don’t let us get there. If He exists, He had just grabbed the roots of my life and ripped them from the ground, turning my very existence upside down.”
Aside from underscoring the old adage that there are no atheists in the foxhole, it brings to mind the story of Job, losing everything before getting it all back again.
The natural beauty constantly on display might make you think of ‘thin spaces’
The film also brings to mind the gospel story of Jesus sending his disciples out on mission and telling them: “Take nothing for the journey - no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt” (Luke 9:3). It might make you ask whether, if Jesus asked you to do the same thing now, you would be up to the challenge.
It’s also a handy visual metaphor for anyone writing a sermon on agape - unconditional, enduring, self-sacrificing - love.
The miracle at the heart
But perhaps the hardest part for non-believers to ignore is the transformation in Moth’s health. In an uncomfortable scene near the beginning of the film, doctors tells Moth he has Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), a degenerative disease, and has no more than six years to live.
He is told not do anything strenuous and to take it easy on the stairs. So, strapping a heavy rucksack to his back and walking for hundreds of miles would only exacerbate his condition – right? Yet, during the course of their odyssey, his symptoms appear to subside.
The natural beauty constantly on display (the filmmakers clearly got their money’s worth from the drone pilot) might make you think of ‘thin spaces’. In Celtic Christianity, these are places where the boundary between the physical and spiritual world is thought to be especially fine, and are often associated with healing and miracles. Seeing a terminally ill person receive even a temporary healing adds some credence to this idea.
Ultimately, The Salt Path is a great story, made into a very good film. It’s a faithful adaptation of the book which, by virtue of it being an episodic true tale, starts to lose a bit of narrative drive in the latter half.
If you’re watching it, you might be inclined to think of those you love the most. You might also reflect on the miracle of Moth’s health which, although not a complete healing, is a life that has been filled with much more light and hope than he could have expected.
The Salt Path is in UK cinemas now
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