

75 minutes underground and you'll forget to breathe.
During the First World War a British unit take up a new position in a trench unaware that the Germans are laying a mine underneath it.
Direction
Summers squeezes dread from static trench shots.
Sound
Early sound design makes silence absolutely violent.

Director
Walter Summers
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot at Elstree Studios with a full-scale trench reconstruction; actors reportedly refused second takes due to genuine fear of collapse.
One of Britain's earliest talkie war films, released when WWI veterans still dominated audiences — the silence was a deliberate choice to honor their unspoken trauma.