Landship

A British F41 tank falls into a crater during the Battle of Passchendaele in August 1917, stranding its crew in the middle of No Man’s Land on the Western Front. Surrounded by German forces on all sides, the men are caught in a three-day fight for survival as their resources dwindle and nerves begin to fracture, waiting for a rescue that may never come. Based on a script co-written with his father, Andrew Burn, director Callum Burn turns this remarkable real-life story into a claustrophobic World War One drama. While Burn maintains a palpable sense of tension throughout a lean runtime, a handful of baffling decisions and technical limitations stop this feature from meeting its full potential.

Made on a budget of just £330,000, the production team have done an astounding job making everything appear real with creative use of practical effects. A great deal of detail has been put into the tank’s interior to make viewers feel like they’re crammed in alongside the soldiers. The sense of isolation is further heightened by the thick fog swirling outside that obscures the crew’s view of any enemies hiding in the nearby trees. The sound design is also put to excellent use here. As ferocious as the shells exploding around the soldiers are, it’s when the gunfire stops that the action is at its most tense. Each time someone is sent to look outside, viewers wait in nervous anticipation for the crack of an enemy’s pistol to break the silence.

Vin Hawke does a solid job as Captain Donald Richardson, who must keep his men in check while making difficult life-or-death decisions. The supporting cast also do commendable jobs, though the script doesn’t do much to give them distinguishing personalities that extend beyond generic traits and different accents. When the main fighting starts, and the soldiers are scrambling in the mud, having to use darkness and fog to conceal the set means that it becomes almost impossible to tell the characters apart. Frustrating dream sequences and a puzzlingly anticlimactic conclusion likewise dampen the impact of the drama.

Landship is gruelling to watch in the best possible way. Burn utilises spectacular practical effects and immersive sound design to deliver a visceral and realistic survival thriller. Although there are some strange missteps along the way, the filmmaker has nevertheless crafted a highly atmospheric feature.