It’s 1916, and the war with Germany grinds on, claiming thousands of lives every day. The northern English mill town of Ramsden feels it keenly. Most of the town’s young men have signed up and headed for the battlefields of France. Many are dead or missing.

Ralph Fiennes in the film The Choral

Their absence is palpable in the diminished ranks of the town’s choir, whose annual concert looms. Into this gap steps – somewhat controversially – a new choirmaster, Dr Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), a musician who, in his glory days, met Brahms and worked with Europe’s leading orchestras. These days, though, a CV that includes time in Germany is a red flag. The town’s vicar is uneasy too. Guthrie is a known atheist with “peculiarities” – the main one being that he’s homosexual. Some think he may be a spy. He seems uncommonly interested in shipping reports and war news. And he might be. Unknown to anyone in Ramsden, Guthrie’s partner is serving in the Kaiser’s navy.

Despite the whispers – and a brick thrown through the rehearsal-room window – Guthrie is hired and promptly upends the established order. Longtime...