Ben Wheatley directs Michael Smiley, Reece Shearsmith and Richard Glover in this existential monochrome trip amongst English Civil War deserters. 

So far this is the only Ben Wheatley movie I’d struggle to recommend to the casual viewer. It is testing. Not as compelling as Kill List, nor as loveable as Sightseers, nowhere near as accessible as Free Fire. A Field in England is an intentionally difficult film to enjoy but a film that lingers. An exercise in banal surrealism it owes as much to Waiting for Godot as it does Culloden. I even picked up past the mash-up of Blackadder-esque introductions a hint of The Good, The Bad and Ugly (civil war deserters with clanking guns and big hats hunt for treasure). Unlike Leone’s epic it is no cinematic perfection piece though. You have to concede the double edged sword moments of patience testing ramblings, silent movie blackouts and THAT centre piece strobing trip trouble more than they impress. Men merge into themselves and the sun is swallowed. Smiley and Shearsmith are highly watchable, it disturbs enough to scar. But you wouldn’t rush to get trapped in the long grass again. Interesting mainly as a dry run for the more expansive Wheatley flick, High Rise.

7