Director: Callum Burn
Screenplay: Andrew Burn, Callum Burn
Starring: Vin Hawke, Sam Dowdy, Micky David, David Dobson, Daniel Cornish, Jack Sherlock, Matthew Canny, Jeffrey Mundell, Nadav Burstein, Ricky Oakley
Country: UK
Running Time: 89 min
Year: 2026
BBFC Certificate: 15
Landship is a microbudget feature, directed by Callum Burn, that expands on his 2013 short film, Fray Bentos. Burn and his co-producer father, Andrew, have made a cottage industry out of these ambitious war movies, shot on a shoestring, with titles like Lancaster Skies and Battle Over Britain already to their names.
With these films being produced on my doorstep, in Lincolnshire, and the fact that I’m a filmmaker myself, I’ve been keeping an eye on the progress of the Burns. I must admit, I wasn’t a massive fan of Lancaster Skies, but I admired what was achieved on a tiny budget. After watching a piece on the local news on Landship, though, it looked more up my street, and I jumped at the chance of reviewing an early screener.
The film is based on a true story. I’ll borrow the description on the film’s website to explain the plot:
“Passchendaele 1917. At the spearhead of a British offensive, the crew of Battle Tank F41 ‘Fray Bentos’ become bogged down in a shell crater in no man’s land, yards from the German front line. Over the course of sixty gruelling hours, Captain Donald Richardson struggles to maintain discipline, as the crew come under repeated attack from a fiendish enemy that seemingly appears from nowhere in the dense smog that hangs across the battlefield.”
This, to me, was a big improvement over Lancaster Skies (I haven’t had a chance to watch any of Burn’s other films). Burn plays to his strengths, using his limited resources to make a stripped-back, claustrophobic film that wastes no time, throwing you straight into the tank (after a creepy opening sequence) and keeping you there or just outside it for the entirety of the film.
Another effective technique used is the constant shrouding of the outside world in smoke and smog. On top of keeping the production design budget down, this gives the film an eerie, otherworldly atmosphere. No man’s land is desolate and frightening. When German soldiers appear, they’re often glimpsed as mere shadows in the haze, like ghosts haunting our protagonists.
On the topic of the exterior shots, the special effects are also surprisingly good for a film that reportedly only had a £330,000 budget. From what I can gather online, much of this was done practically, with miniatures and remote control models. This means the battle scenes look far more believable than they would with low-rent CGI. Some of the explosions look a little too clearly superimposed, but, on the whole, the exterior tank scenes look mightily impressive.
Away from the practical achievements, Landship isn’t perfect. The writing can be a little generic. It tends to lean into war movie tropes instead of genuinely effective character development. You’ve got the unpopular commanding officer having to make hard decisions, the religious soldier who says prayers before getting his guns out, the youngster who can’t handle the pressure, and a few other familiar touches.
That said, I did find myself engaged with these men and their plight, which is saying something when you’re stuck in a confined space with the group throughout the film’s running time. This might largely be down to the performances. The acting in microbudget films can often leave a lot to be desired, but the cast here does a decent job of portraying the fear and frayed tensions faced in such a horrific situation.
Overall, whilst there are a few cliches here and there, Callum Burn and his team must be applauded for making such a taut and gripping war movie with such limited resources. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.
Film: 
Landship will be in UK Cinemas from 26th June, courtesy of Kaleidoscope Entertainment. There’s also a special Q&A screening on 1st July at Kinema In The Woods, Woodhall Spa. Landship will later be available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from 10th August.
Pre-order your tickets for the special Q&A screening here