There aren't enough films set during the English Civil War - let alone ones that have their heroes going on a mad drugs trip. With this premise, and the talented director Ben Wheatley behind the camera, A Field In England had the potential to be something special. And yet the final result is that of a movie that is irritating in its willingness to go too far off the deep end - that's to say, this right, black and white hallucination of a movie suffers from being too vague. It's clear that the filmmakers don't really know what the film is trying to say; it's ambiguous for lack of better options. The plot starts simply enough: O'Neil, an alchemist, forces a group of Civil War deserters to aid him in a search to find a hidden treasure which he thinks to be buried in a field. Before long, though, narrative comprehension is totally abandoned, and the film becomes as hodgepodge of half-developed ideas, strange images, and moments of bewilderment. Given the drug-inducted nature of the plot, a general sense of craziness was expected... but not to such an extent that it becomes a headache to follow; there's a "for the sake of it" quality to all the madness.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
