Landship Review – Soldiers crave pies made of mud in this first world war mud drama set inside a tank | Video

Bloosely based on a true story, the British first world war drama uses a number of clever tricks to keep the budget low – starting with placing almost the entire story inside a tank; this one is called Fray Bentos after the famous canned pie. Moreover, every time a British soldier goes out of a closed area, it is usually at night, or precisely when the smoke and fog are thickest, you will not see the Germans walking behind the papier-mache mortar, ready to attack our heroes.

Unfortunately, all that darkness and grot make it hard to tell what’s going on at times. This means that the noble boys are almost indistinguishable – although after a while it is possible to tell that the officers are the ones with neat, manly mustaches and sound, while the young people nearby are all clean-shaven and have working voices. In the end it becomes clear that the stiff-lipped Captain Richardson (Vin Hawke) is determined to continue with their mission of shooting the enemy – until the tank is forced. So they decide to wait until the carrier pigeon receives a message from the pedestrians, who will surely come and save them all at any moment. Days pass, and the men begin to tremble, especially Morrey (Jack Sherlock) whose mumbling begins to sound like chaos. Who will survive? Will any of them eat Fray Bentos’ real pie again?

Director Callum Burn, working on a script he wrote with his father, Andrew Burn, has lived here, with World War II films. Lancaster Skies, Spitfire Over Berlin and War in Britain; he seems to thrive as a supporting cast, and elicits strong emotions from the cast as he continues to take on the pressure. The whole thing feels stolidly retro, to the point where it feels like a comedy send-up but without the gags.

● Landship is in UK cinemas from 26 June.