The Dig — Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (2021)

Simon Stone’s The Dig (Netflix, 2021), starring Carey Mulligan as landowner Edith Pretty and Ralph Fiennes as archaeologist Basil Brown, dramatises the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial — which took place just weeks before the outbreak of World War II. The film follows the relationship between Pretty and Brown as they uncover the extraordinary Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard, against the backdrop of an England preparing for war. Much of the film was shot on location near the actual site in Suffolk, England. The screenplay is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston, which draws on historical accounts of the excavation. The Dig brought the Sutton Hoo burial to a global audience and significantly increased visitor numbers to the National Trust site in subsequent years.