--- title: "The Dig: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-dig/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/the-dig" critics_score: 73 critics_reviews: 25 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Dig (2021): what the critics said Critics' score 73 from 25 reviews: 16 positive, 9 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews lean warm, and the praise gathers almost entirely around Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan. Most critics see the alliance between a self-taught archaeologist and a wealthy widow as the film’s heart, and several remark on how much feeling the two convey without saying it aloud. The Suffolk landscape, shot with a widescreen sweep, earns steady credit, and the film’s gentle, unhurried handling of time and mortality is generally taken as a virtue rather than a want of nerve. The reservations are just as consistent. A romantic subplot involving Lily James is repeatedly described as a distraction from the central pair, and a number of critics wish the film had spent more of its running time on the excavation itself. Nobody dislikes it, but the spread is wide: The Times finds it piercing and unmissable, while Empire says it lacks fire and Eye for Film considers it a missed opportunity. ## The Times Rating ★★★★★. 13 January 2021. The film is an extraordinary, emotionally piercing and intoxicating drama about the pull of the past, with career-high turns from Fiennes and Mulligan and ambitious direction evoking Malick. It is serious, intellectually committed cinema that is unmissable. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-dig-review-emotionally-piercing-and-intoxicating-drama-about-the-pull-of-the-past-xjsdd2szz) ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Crust Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. The characters are vivid and multidimensional, the milieu inviting, and the circumstances compelling in this old-fashioned story told in an unexpected way. It is bathed in warm nostalgia and romanticism steeped in British stoicism, allowing room for melancholy, sharp wit, and genuine wonder. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-01-29/dig-netflix-review-fiennes-mulligan) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 14 January 2021. The film is charming, moving old-fashioned heritage cinema with strong performances from Fiennes and Mulligan and top-level craft that conveys real emotion about the fragility of lives and time. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-dig-review-netflix/5156042.article) ## Vulture — Bilge Ebiri Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. The review praises the film's moving, elliptical style that connects personal lives to broader history and existence, singling out the glorious performances of Fiennes and Mulligan for conveying deep, unspoken emotion. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/review-netflixs-the-dig-with-ralph-fiennes-carey-mulligan.html) ## IndieWire — Steve Greene Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. The review highlights the crackling chemistry between Mulligan and Fiennes as the bittersweet core of this quiet drama about history's persistence, while noting that surrounding subplots and characters often feel superfluous. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/the-dig-review-netflix-carey-mulligan-ralph-fiennes-1234612538/) ## Slant Magazine — Dan Rubins Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2021. The critic commends the film for its eloquent focus on history, mortality, and human connections through strong performances, particularly Mulligan and Fiennes, and its reverence for the past amid personal and national transitions. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-dig-review-carey-mulligan-ralph-fiennes/) ## The Telegraph — Robbie Collin Rating 4/5. 29 January 2021. The film is a beautiful, heartfelt period tale that draws a line between the earthy and the ethereal, with strong performances from the cast exploring themes of history and mortality. It notes that the story is ultimately conventional but still consoling and escapist. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/ralph-fienness-sutton-hoo-drama-dig-beautiful-heartfelt-period/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — David Rooney Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 13 January 2021. The critic finds the film a somewhat awkward but satisfying period drama with strong performances from Mulligan and Fiennes, praising their rapport and the film's gentle melancholy and restraint despite an uneven shift to ensemble storytelling. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-dig-film-review-4115501/) ## Financial Times — Danny Leigh Rating 4. 27 January 2021. The film is sometimes hackneyed, sometimes marvellous, with vivid performances from the leads and fresh direction that shoots the Suffolk landscape with widescreen grandeur. It features a standout underground sequence that is pure cinema. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/53970324-800c-42d8-b3cf-75579105f89c) ## Sight and Sound Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. The film is a modest heritage drama whose sincerity survives the Netflix touch, with strong performances from Fiennes and Mulligan anchoring an undemanding but pleasantly cathartic story of the Sutton Hoo discovery. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/dig-2021-ralph-fiennes-carey-mulligan-sutton-hoo-burial-mound-treasure-suffolk) ## The AV Club — Katie Rife Rating B-. 13 January 2021. The critic describes the film as a stuffy adaptation that poetically explores themes of time, mortality, and repressed longing through elegant visuals, but faults its halting storytelling, inertia, and failure to deliver on promising ideas. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/carey-mulligan-and-ralph-fiennes-delve-for-meaning-in-t-1846042929) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 January 2021. The film is a gently understated period drama with charm to spare about the Sutton Hoo excavation, focusing on an unlikely friendship between a self-taught archaeologist and a wealthy widow. It praises the leads' performances and cinematography but notes a superfluous romantic subplot. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/jan/31/the-dig-review-sutton-hoo-carey-mulligan-ralph-fiennes) ## The New York Times — Glenn Kenny Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 28 January 2021. The film is a consistently interesting and at times engrossing picture that declines to strike its notes with a hammer. It considers weighty themes including who owns history, class inequality, and the intertwining of sexual repression and loneliness while remaining scrupulous, sober, and tasteful. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/movies/the-dig-review.html) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 13 January 2021. The unhurried yet engaging project features meticulously calibrated performances from Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes as the leads explore a dynamic of mutual respect that transcends education and class. Director Simon Stone approaches the period piece in Merchant Ivory mode about making the most of fleeting friendships and loves. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/the-dig-review-carey-mulligan-ralph-fiennes-1234884358/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2021. The film is a wistfully cosy Netflix drama that benefits from an incredible cast and the strength of its source material despite taking liberties with history. It praises the performances, especially Mulligan's conveyance of loneliness and longing, but criticizes the casting of a younger actor in an older role and notes that the story could have been deeper. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/the-dig-netflix-review-b899840.html) ## Empire — Ian Freer Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 2021. The Dig is well played, especially by the leads, and visually gorgeous, but it lacks fire and ironically doesn’t get under the surface of its story. It gets by on strong performances, some gorgeous filmmaking and the idea of good people coming together, while noting the refreshing intellectual intimacy between the main characters rather than romance. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-dig/) ## Little White Lies — David Jenkins Rating 3/3/3. 29 January 2021. The film wheels out soft romantic subplots at the expense of the dig's drama and spends too little time conveying the historical importance of Sutton Hoo, but Carey Mulligan shines with sultry verve as Edith Pretty. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/the-dig) ## Radio Times Rating 3/5. Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan bring heart to the story of the Sutton Hoo excavation, with their odd-couple alliance engaging, but a romantic subplot involving Lily James proves an unwelcome distraction and the film could have dug deeper into Basil Brown's story. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-b8t0fj/the-dig/) ## The i Paper — Geoffrey Macnab Rating 3/5. 28 January 2021. The adaptation is less about the archaeology than about yearning, love and death in a class-stratified society, with early scenes often magical thanks to evocative cinematography. It highlights strong performances by Mulligan and Fiennes and the subtle treatment of their characters' inhibited relationship, though the second half loses some power as it explores other subplots. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/the-dig-netflix-review-carey-mulligan-and-ralph-fiennes-848100) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 3/5. 25 January 2021. This sun-soaked period drama is a gentle tonic with hidden emotional depths beneath its heritage trappings, though the romantic subplot distracts from the central odd-couple dynamic between Fiennes and Mulligan. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-dig) ## Paste — Aparita Bhandari Rating 8.7. 21 January 2021. The critic calls the film a lovely, meditative artifact and calming balm that offers a wonderful escape from reality. They single out the strong performances by Fiennes and Mulligan along with the film's respectful handling of the historical Sutton Hoo discovery. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/netflix/the-dig-review) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 27 January 2021. The critic finds The Dig an entertaining and underappreciated British period drama that rewards viewers with its true story of an archaeological discovery on the eve of WWII. He singles out the splendid performances of Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes as the heart of the film, along with its exquisite cinematography. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/video/the-dig-review-carey-mulligan-ralph-fiennes-netflix/) ## Consequence Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 14 January 2021. The critic finds it a touching film that uses the archaeological discovery to explore how people cope with time and mortality. They single out the bucolic atmosphere and strong central performances but note it spends too much time on less compelling subplots. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2021/01/film-review-the-dig/) ## Eye for Film — Jennie Kermode Rating 3/5. 10 March 2021. The critic notes strong leading performances and a handful of beautifully crafted scenes alongside much clunkier and more derivative material. Overall, the film feels like a missed opportunity despite the great subject of the Sutton Hoo find. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/the-dig-2021-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Polygon — Robert Daniels Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2021. The critic finds the film initially tedious and miscast in its early romance focus but ultimately praises its shift to a poignant meditation on mortality, legacy, and fleeting life. They single out the later emotional resonance around the historical discovery. [Read the review](https://www.polygon.com/22233336/the-dig-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/the-dig.md