The Trench

The Trench (1999) is a war drama you can watch online on iFILM, marking novelist William Boyd's debut behind the camera, with a very young Daniel Craig leading a handful of British recruits.

The story covers the final forty-eight hours before the Battle of the Somme. Seventeen-year-old volunteer Billy, his brother Eddie and their mate Reg sit in a frontline trench, waiting for the order to go over the top. Outside there's mud, rats and relentless shelling; inside there's boredom, bravado and a fear that keeps tightening. Seasoned Sergeant Winter tries to hold the boys together, while a floundering Lieutenant Hart looks unfit to send anyone into fire. The camera barely leaves the trench, squeezing the whole film into a cramped space where everyone senses the morning may be their last.

Boyd shapes an intimate war film with no sweeping battle vistas — the real fight happens inside men counting down to the whistle. Early roles for Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw and James D'Arcy flash by, years before their fame. A harsh, claustrophobic piece about courage and dread sharing a single ditch. Stream The Trench (1999) online on iFILM.