There’s all kinds of history hiding just under the surface of British soil. Remember when they found the remains of Richard III beneath a car park in Leicester? Or, every episode of Time Team you found yourself watching on a lazy Sunday evening? Well, if either of those things captured your imagination, be sure to check out The Dig – Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of John Preston’s novel, dramatising the true story of a major historical find in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk around the start of World War II. The film boasts a majorly starry cast – including Ralph Fiennes as archaeologist Basil Brown, and Carey Mulligan as landowner Edith Pretty, plus Lily James and Johnny Flynn as excavators on the site – and you’ll see them all getting stuck in in the film’s official trailer.
As well as the nature of Brown’s discovery (which is hinted at strongly here, and is somewhat widely known with this being a true story and all), the film depicts the scrabble to claim the artefacts unearthed, as well as the looming tensions of the war, with a few love stories thrown in there for good measure. And that really is a cracking cast of British favourites, sure to attract eyeballs when it comes to Netflix.
The Dig comes from Australian director Simon Stone, with a screenplay adapted by Moira Buffini, previously behind the likes of 2011’s Jane Eyre, Byzantium, and brothel-centric period drama Harlots. It’s now confirmed to arrive in select cinemas from 15 January, with a worldwide Netflix streaming release on 29 January.