Mark Kermode reviews A Field in England 

Kermode is right about that scene with the guy coming out of the tent. It's seriously unsettling.

There are simply not enough films about the English Civil War. I'll watch this simply for that reason.

I can't help but keep seeing the main character dancing to a set of traffic light beeps whilst off his head on speed in the TV series Spaced.

This film is, quite simply, a masterpiece. A real sense of war & how personalities can develop over time. Reece Shearsmith is, truly, a sensational actor. The look on his face as he staggers out of the tent was absolutely terrifying. The scene chilled me to the bone. He was able to portray abject horror with no dialogue. Genius.......

Kermode's passion for great cinema is enthralling

Just watched it in the Cinema here in Austin TX. A stunning piece of cinema. Funny, creepy, and beautiful.

A friend and I were so excited about this release. We went to the pub, had some drinks and a little smoke, then went to his house to watch this masterpiece. It was a big event. We thought the silent prologue was quite artsy. After a few minutes we decided the silent film was cinematic effect and the sound would probably erupt upon some cannon fire to really kick us in to the midst of battle. After about 40 minutes we discovered the sound on the telly was broken. It was ruined by that point so we stopped watching. I still haven't seen it :(

I'm genuinely surprised by the negativity and snootiness on display in abundance here. I agree this isn't the easiest film to watch, it requires some active intellectual participation and effort on the viewers part. Yet despite some of the comments below I didn't find any element of this film boring or pretentious. The lengthier and more surreal scenes work because they function as stand alone images that fit within the framework of an ambiguous plot. I thought it was marvellous!

I've just watched it and agree with Mark. Very hard to describe. The man walking from the tent creeped me out...

The plot is pretty straightforward. Whitehead, Cutler, Jacob and Friend are all dead and are making their way to an Ale house (Heaven) through a field in England (Purgatory), however, on the way they encounter O'Neil (Satan), who forces them to dig a pit (Grave/Hell/Eternal Death). O'Neil is finally defeated, but the four heroes are still full of sin, and so have to start their journey again from the beginning.

Remember watching on film4 when it released and just ordered it on dvd. One of the best low budget english films i have ever seen.

The elusive plot is to disturb and confound. Surely the point of the film. And a device well used.

I really liked this film

Absolutely fantastic! That slow-mo sequence is very arresting indeed. All in all another wonderful film by Wheatley.

a truly excellent film. Wheatley really is in a league of his currently. Every feature he's done thus far has been so quintessentially British and no two are the same. Shearsmith is fabulous here. Monty Python meets David Lynch.

Watched it last night. Exceptionally confusing, but beautiful and well-acted. Very enjoyable, but you've got to prepare yourself; you have to give it your full attention otherwise you will be left miles back down the road. At times it felt as though it was being deliberately confusing; an exercise in directorial ego-groping rather than something that serves an actual purpose... but still. It's a breath of fresh air. And the slow-mo shot Mark is describing is creepy as hell.

Watched this at the cinema tonight. Absolutely fantastic.

The Director Ben Wheatley has said, "there are other narratives that sit within it. There's the basic get out of going 'Oh, he's just on drugs,' which I don't sign up for, but it's there. I think it's... is he fragments of the same man, or are they in the circles of hell, or are they in Pergatory, and learning more things about each other each time they go through the hedge."

It’s taken me far too long to get round to watching A Field in England. It has all the ingredients that tick my boxes. I love art horror mystery etc films. This, however, just failed for me and I’m genuinely baffled by the accolades it receives. Definitely the emperor’s new field in England. It’s a simplistic, rambling, incoherent form over function A level project.

i rewatched this after your reference to it in another review. funny how much of it is devoted to the thought of simultaneous delivery of film to all platforms simultaneously in the future, and here we are in 2021 and have seen we can skip the flagship delivery mechanism of cinemas. obviously, the cinema experience is not akin to watching a movie on a mobile phone, the rich experience suspension of disbelief suffers, yet it can be done.

Whoa, I've been listening to Kermode for years and I think that's the first time I've ever heard him say his wife's name on air. I feel like he makes a concerted effort to keep his family out of the spotlight so I'm surprised to hear him slip up like that.

Captures the atmosphere ,well acted the black ,and white gives it depth.!

They will be studying this film in universities for years to come

I've just made a similar comment. Same sort of crowd who complain that their tax money goes towards the arts. Their is precious little Avant Garde cinema as it is, but they would even deprive us of that if they had their way.

There should be more films not just about the English Civil Wars but the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms - Cromwell -To Kill a King - A Field in England these are the only ones I can think of

Thanks for the tip; I watched it because of you.

reference?

A Field in England, is for me, by far the best movie ever produced. Yet, I fully appreciate it is hated by many.

I’ve finally seen this , and wow, what a film!

This sounds absolutely fantastic.

Last night was an A-1, tip top clubbing jam fair. It was a sandwich of fun on ecstacy bread, wrapped up in a big bag like disco fudge. It doesn't get much better than that, I just wish sometimes I could control these FOCKING MOOD SWINGS!

Smiley creeps me out

I wonder if its anything like Valhalla Rising?

Just seen the film...fantastic

1970ish UK TV play reboot! Somebody dropped acid in the tea at Hammer Studios.Watch this at the pictures.Or wait for the Super8mm 400' edit.

sorry friend, but you are mistaken...it is a gnostic journey to "the other world" via a hallucinatory experience- a combination of mushroom trip and "operative fasting".

I have to say I'm surprised by the negative response here. I wouldn't say the film was brilliant as such, but nor would I say that it was boring or pretentious. The ideas behind it are interesting and since I watched this last week I haven't stopped thinking about it. The dreamlike atmosphere is gripping, frightening and beautiful. In regards to the distribution model - I just wish I had seen it on telly earlier so I could have nipped down to the cinema the following evening to watch it again.

On the channel 4 app at the moment, It made me feel like when I watched stalker both real good.

At 2:12 in that clip did anyone else think there was a lawnmower going on in the background?

your explanation as well as his sound pretty spot on and im glad that I somewhat understood the film in the same context.

I just watched it on film4, I have to say, I wasn’t overly impressed. I felt it was building up to something, but it didn’t quite deliver. Interesting but no more than that. I’m going to stick on Night of the Demon and finish my cans.

Look's like an interesting watch, although I'm sure it will build me up just to drop me down with a disappointing bump like Kill list did.

I think this could have been a truly great film had the director not made several odd and silly choices throughout-- thinking specifically of the campy sound effects and occasionally self-aware dialogue. The casting was superb and there were several points where it was genuinely strange, evocative, terrifying... I feel like it's a film with excellent pieces that fail to cohere at the last minute.

Winstanley, the Wrath of Shrooms. I agree about the 'coming out of the tent' scene, but the subsequent events aren't as creepy, especially given the out-of-place, Blackadderish dialogue exchange towards the end ('... catchy!'). This isn't as effective as the recent American indie Yellowbrickroad, which, although flawed, tries to sustain a malevolence that AFIE fudges.

Why are people so resistant to the Avant Garde? I understand if you just don't get it but why insist a film is bad because you didn't get it. Not all film is made purely to entertain or make money, this may upset you but some of us like something a bit more stimulating than straightforward exposition, explosions and endless regurgitated plots.

It's been weeks since I watched this. The events in my own life since I watched this have changed my original horrified perspective. I was sickened by the tent scene, but having been through shocking experience myself this past week. I believe he comes from the tent enlightened. Crosses over. Quite a different fellow. Hard to explain but sometimes enlightenment is painful.

It might have been great or it might have been emperors new clothes.....all I know is I didn't appreciate it, it didn't hold my attention after the first 10 minutes and I couldn't wait for it to be over......having said that when it comes around again I'll give it a second chance.

Man, I thought he reviewed an actual field in england. I am disappointed

I watched it on Prime Video on my phone, I envy people who have watched it at the theater.

its an excellent film.....what else you going to watch? the usual spoon fed CGI crap?...yeah it makes you think and is disturbing in places....but if you want to watch a film that makes you think after....this is for you....if you just want a "maccy D" type fix....then go watch superman.

Nothing happens in the tent, because O'Neill doesn,t exist!

Open up and let the devil in!

I was not to enamoured with A Field in England. There are viewers here defining it as "stimulating" and "excellent", which I find interesting. The film for me became a showcase of cinematic technique, pulling me away from the film in a Brechtian awareness of the production, which ruined the film. It often felt like traditional screenplay dialogue was being pulled into the Avant Garde by the direction. It just didn't work for me. Some great technique & ideas, but not enough to be AvantG.

But the point is, that doesn't matter.... :)

"The most pretentious film I have ever watched." That sounds like a very pretentious statement to me.

Damn it , forgot it was on Hush bored me so much turned over

ook??😣

I tried watching but after fifteen minutes was confused and bored, nothing seemed to be happening and never really cared what the ending was. Chances are its a really good piece of Cinema but its wasted on proles like me.

Looks a bit like Baldrick....

still no answers.

This film was so dull it genuinely enraged me.

Geoffrey Rush is violator doing these small films.

What is it with you people and your plots? It's like The tree of life discussion all over again.

Kill List was great. Sightseers was even better. But this was the most boring film I've seen in ages. Yes, it's well made and has some wonderfully shot scenes in it but I really couldn't get in to it at all. A real fight to stay awake. Disappointing.

As a big fan of Wheatly's previous films, A Field in England was a major disappointment. All style and no substance and at times cringe inducing in it's pretentiousness, I was bored for a great deal of the film and when the end came, I just didn't care.

I really hate the person in glasses. He is so ostentatious

THE most pretentious film I have ever watched. Saddened to see it's good reviews. Sightseers was awesome, Kill List started very well, this is unwatchable (not in the horror disturbing sense) A truly awful film that I passionately dislike.

This film, although directed very well, was a disappointing mess.