The Dig is a 2021 British historical drama film starring Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and Lily James. Although based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, it tells the Real Life story of the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon ship buried in Sutton Hoo, Suffolk in 1939 on the eve of World War II. The film had a limited release in theatres on January 15th, 2021, followed by Netflix fourteen days later.
When wealthy English widow Edith Pretty (Mulligan) hires the self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown (Fiennes) to investigate the mounds on her land they make an incredible discovery when they find a buried Anglo-Saxon ship, however this discovery comes with unwanted attention as an arrogant Cambridge archaeologist takes over the site with his team including the kind yet troubled Peggy Piggott (James) and her husband.
No relation to the 1995 video game of the same name.
Tropes
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Averted. While he is no less passionate or skilled, Basil Brown is not shown to be very adventurous and the farthest he travels is to and from his home to Mrs Pretty's property.
- Age Lift: At play with Edith Pretty and Charles Phillips, on account of them being played by actors who are (respectively) somewhat younger and significantly older than they were at the time of the Sutton Hoo dig.
- Alliterative Name: At play with Basil Brown and Peggy Piggott.
- Artistic Licence – History: As with the source novel, some artistic licence is used with regards to what actually happened at the Sutton Hoo dig and the people who were involved. For example, there is no evidence that Stuart Piggott was gay in Real Life, although he and Peggy did eventually divorce (she later remarried; he did not). As for Peggy, archaeologists have taken issue with her being depicted as inexperienced at the time of the Sutton Hoo dig, whereas she was in fact a respected archaeologist in her own right even then. Rory, the photographer with whom she has an affair, is a fictional relative of the Pretty family.
- Awful Wedded Life: Peggy is in an unhappy marriage because she is neglected by her husband Stuart.
- Based on a True Story: Or rather, based on a novel about a true story. John Preston (the novelist) is in fact a nephew of Peggy Piggott.
- Brutal Honesty: When Charles Phillips complains that Basil Brown isn't educated enough to be working on the dig, without even looking up from her knitting she says "That's just snobbery, isn't it", and insists that he be kept on.
- Buried Alive: This happens when one of the trenches suddenly collapses on Basil. Luckily, Edith and the assistants are able to dig him out in time.
- Canon Foreigner: Rory, the photographer with whom Peggy has an affair, is a fictional character who was created for the novel. In actual fact, three photographers — two women and a man — were used on the Sutton Hoo dig; their work included the first use of colour photography at an archaeological dig in Britain. The presence of Rory, though, dooms them to being Adapted Out.
- Closet Gay: It is heavily implied that this is the reason Stuart is unwilling to be intimate with Peggy and why he neglects her.
- Genteel Interbellum Setting: The film takes place in 1939, on the eve of World War II.
- Happily Married: Zig-zagged. Basil doesn't read the letters his wife has been sending him, and he accepts Edith's invitation to dinner, but when his wife Dorothy actually shows up, he seems to remember that he actually loves her and relies on her guidance. He's later seen to have fallen asleep reading every letter she's been sending him.
- Historical Domain Character: Befitting of a movie based on a novel about Real Life events, most of the cast are based (albeit loosely in some cases) on real people. Peggy Piggott is better known to history as Margaret Guido, the latter surname being that of her second husband.
- Ignored Expert: Basil is looked down on and dismissed by his fellow archaeologists because he is self-taught and left education at age 12.
- Incompatible Orientation: Peggy tries have a sex life with her husband but he's clearly uncomfortable with even seeing her naked, despite the fact that she is an attractive young woman.
- Incurable Cough of Death: One of the signs of Edith's declining health is a cough.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Basil develops one with Edith's son Robert because they share a passion for astronomy.
- Jerkass: Charles Philips is presented as rather arrogant, snobby and opinionated character who barges onto Edith's land and takes over control of the dig site; he has little time for the self-taught Basil.
- When Peggy asks Philips why he insisted that she accompany Stuart and assist with the excavation, she is expecting him to refer to her training under Stuart or to have read one of her few academic papers. He blinks in surprise and says he thought it was obvious: she's a short, slender woman and can fit into some of the narrow spaces on the site more easily than the men - not to mention that if one of the tunnels collapses, she's expendable compared to her husband or himself.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Basil does this when Charles Philips arrives and takes over control of the site and demotes Basil to keeping the site in order, however after speaking with his wife and Robert turning up at his doorstep, Basil decides to return and Edith intervenes so he can return to digging.
- Sexless Marriage: Peggy is trapped in one of these with Stuart. When he walks in on her when she's in the bath, rather than smile at her or look at her fondly, he's actually horrified.
- Shout-Out: Played with. Basil's brown fedora may well remind viewers of Indiana Jones, but photos of the actual Sutton Hoo dig show that Basil Brown really did wear such a hat (although other pictures of him show him in a flat cap).
- Sympathetic Adulterer: It's not hard to sympathize with Peggy having an affair with Rory due to her husband's constant neglecting and aversion to intimacy.
