The Dig (7.5/10) - "We’re standing in someone’s graveyard, I reckon. Viking. Or maybe older."

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Netflix recently released this biographical movie about the excavation that took place in Sutton Hoo at the end of the 30s. The main characters are played by Carey Mulligan is the owner of the land and the person that finances the beginning of the excavation, and Ralph Fiennes who plays the first archeologist in charge of the operation.

Carey Mulligan's character, Edith Pretty, was a wealthy widowed woman with a young kid to care for. She also suffered from a debilitating heart disease that prevented her from taking initiative in her everyday activities. In the movie, she is shown to lead a lonely life, mainly focused on her child, her health issue, and the excavation that's going on in her property.

The property was very big, it has a vast open field with several ancient burial mounds that could potentially have valuable items inside them. This is the main reason for the excavation to take place, to recover these artifacts and enrich the knowledge about the history of this land.

The first archeologist is directly hired by Edith Pretty and he's very passionate about the prospects of this project. He is the first one to affirm these mounds are from the Anglo-Saxons and not the Vikings which was the consensus at that time. However, he was a self-taught individual and not academically experienced which would cause him a few issues down the road regarding his recognition in this discovery.

When the magnitude of these findings is revealed important institutions at the national level will get involved to provide the necessary professionalism this excavation requires. They dug up a real historic treasure that will end up being exhibited in a major museum in England so it became a very notorious excavation site. There was even a party to celebrate the discoveries.

The film had beautiful cinematography and a decent pace throughout the entire story. It will be an enjoyable watch for people who enjoy both biographical and historical movies.

The best

• It was a good historical/biographical film about a story I have no knowledge of.

The worst

• There are secondary dramas that took the spotlight from the main plot in the second half of the film.

More information: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3661210/ Review: AAA In numbers: 7.5/10