The War Below

2021

2 hr. 0 min.

War

History

Drama

List

88%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

In the midst of the Great War, Colonel "Hellfire Jack" Norton-Griffiths hatches a daring plan to break the deadly stalemate at the Battle of Messines. He recruits a group of local miners to dig a tunnel underneath no man's land, from the Allied trenches to the German trenches, in hopes of successfully setting off bombs from below the German line and saving the Allied war effort.

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Paul C

Incredible movie, in ww1, not a very well known true story of man's endurance against all the odds!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

08/22/23

Full Review

Harald August V

A great film based on the very true stories of the tunnel diggers of ww1.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/16/23

Full Review

Johnson G

A rather quick-paced movie for such a slow, plodding topic, The War Below was a fairly gripping and grounded experience for almost the whole hour-and-a-half runtime. Sam Hazeldine's performance was superb and really gave the feeling of a man that feels his life has no meaning finally being given a task he feels that he can prove himself in, whether it be proving to the world that he is more than just a sewer digger or just proving to himself that he's a stubborn bastard. The rest of the casts performances ranged from stellar, like those of Sonny Ashbourne or Joseph Steyne, to lackluster like Sam Clemmets hammy melodramatic acting or Andrew Scarborough's generic "evil upper brass" character, though I think their underperformance is less due to the caliber of the actors and moreso due to the bad plot points or poor utilization of the roles they are in. Overall, it's a great period piece and an enjoyable watch for a gritty tale of a part of war that doesn't often see the limelight.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Overall, while movie lovers everywhere have surely seen many war films in the cinema, I assure you, you haven't seen one like this. The War Below introduces a new aspect when it comes to war and the battlefield. I enjoyed the concept of an equally dangerous and suspenseful war beneath the battlefield. The film carries an excellent audio track, and audiences will feel and hear every bang and blast on screen. Leading performances are highly pleasing, but I found some of the side performances weaker and, at times, unfitting. Lovers of war and drama films should seek this film out as I was blown away by the on-screen experience.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A superb piece of cinema which shows the good and bad sides of the relationships in the WWI trenches. The cinematography, directing and producing is excellent giving a large budget feel to a smaller budget film, the acting is excellent and with grip that extends out of the screen from start to finish I'll be watching this again very soon. Definitely worth 5 stars.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The War Below is about the tunnel diggers who planted bombs under the German trenches at Messines in 1916, which killed 10,000 Germans with a single blast and created the largest explosion ever in the non-nuclear age. A solid war film that draws much of its strength from a depiction of the home front, and the families that send their men to war, but it falters a bit with the actual tunneling. I would like to have known more about the complexities of tunnel digging, and why they had to get men from British mines to dig the tunnels, but the pacing is too fast to ever explain what is going on. Overall, good performances and lots of emotional payoff, and it could have been a great film if it had just been slowed down a bit and gotten more technical.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

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J. P. Watts

Director

Sam Hazeldine

William Hackett

Tom Goodman-Hill

Hellfire Jack

Kris Hitchen

Harold Stockford

Elliot James Langridge

George MacDonald

Sam Clemmett

Charlie MacDonald

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Noah Barnett

Time Out

The War Belowis a story of duty and sacrifice, so heartstring-plucking comes pretty much guaranteed. But for all its authentic-feeling soldierly banter, the script never really humanises the men.

Rated: 2/5

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Kevin Maher

Times (UK)

A fascinating Great War side story and a gritty central turn from Sam Hazeldine...

Rated: 3/5

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Phil Hoad

Guardian

A plucky low-budget shot at telling an incredible story.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

Cate Marquis

We Are Movie Geeks

Despite a few stumbles, this is a worthy and entertaining war drama, emotionally satisfying and a fascinating bit of history.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 13, 2021

Full Review

Douglas Davidson

Elements of Madness

Though The War Below moves along at a quick pace, never enabling the audience to really catch their breath, the film itself lacks a certain energy to generate tension - an odd result of moving so fast that the audience isn't given time to care.

Rated: 3/5

Nov 11, 2021

Full Review

Matt Rodriguez

Shakefire

The War Below has plenty of heart and does a good job at unearthing these forgotten heroes of World War I. It's not perfect, but it is nice to see a war movie that's a little different than the typical fanfare that Hollywood puts out.

Rated: C+

Oct 2, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the midst of the Great War, Colonel "Hellfire Jack" Norton-Griffiths hatches a daring plan to break the deadly stalemate at the Battle of Messines. He recruits a group of local miners to dig a tunnel underneath no man's land, from the Allied trenches to the German trenches, in hopes of successfully setting off bombs from below the German line and saving the Allied war effort.

Director: J. P. Watts
Executive Producer: Mark Jacobs, Grace Hartley, Mark Jacobs, David Kirkup
Screenwriter: J. P. Watts
Production Co: Vital Pictures
Genre: War, History, Drama
Original Language: English (United Kingdom)
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 11, 2021

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