The Information on; William Boyd's `The Trench'

What Is It?

Award-winning novelist William Boyd's directorial debut follows a group of young soldiers over the 48 hours leading up to the Battle of the Somme.

Who's In It?

An impressive cast includes Paul Nicholls (Joe Wicks in EastEnders) as 17-year-old squaddie Billy MacFarlane, and Daniel Craig as the hard-bitten yet compassionate Sergeant Winter.

What They Say About It

"What Boyd and his team have done, given their means, is remarkable... it addresses with profound seriousness and humanity an experience of war that still holds and horrifies, even as it fades from the edges of living memory," Anthony Quinn, The Independent.

"An honourable stab at a film about life on the front line in the Great War... the acting is all first-rate... but the action takes place purely in the trench, which gives it the air of a stage set... there's nothing new or surprising in The Trench, nothing we didn't know already," Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

"Boyd has come up with something tense and original. For the most part his own script avoids the dangers of an edifying lyricism... I believe that he offers something that will linger after the smoke of our millennial celebrations and wonderings has disappeared," Andrew O'Hagan, The Daily Telegraph.

Where You Can See It

The Trench (15, 93 mins) is on general release