A sober look at the two-day buildup to the catastrophic Battle of the Somme in 1916 from the point of view of teenaged British Army soldier Billy Macfarlane (Nicholls). His tough sargeant, Telford Winter (Craig), tries to prepare the raw recruits for battle as they hunker down in their damp, vermin-infested trench but nothing can prepare them for the senseless carnage to come. Familiar cliches abound but the performances are strong.