Think of England

A World War II drama thriller written and directed by Richard Hawkins and starring Jack Bandeira, Natalie Quarry, John McCrea, Ronni Ancona, Ben Bella Bohm and Ollie Madigan.

The Scecond World War is taking place, the Allies' Invasion of France is near and the British Government is sending six people to the Orkney Islands to make three short pornographic films, one for the Army, one for the Navy and one for the Air Force. The plan is to boost the soldiers' spirit. These six people are Captain Clune (McCrea), who works for the Ministry of information, specialising in film propaganda, Holly (Quarry), an aspiring actress, Max (Bohm), a German film director, Agnes (Ancona), in charge of the makeup and the clothing, Clifford (Maddigan), the sound apprentice and Corporal Evans (Bandeira), an unstable soldier. As they attempt to complete the project under a tight deadline, they find themselves dealing with a lot of drama and complications.

This feature concentrates primarily on character exploration rather than the narrative. Some of the story's challenges are the crew's personal issues that they have with making this kind of film, particularly the erotic scenes. As they work (or at least try to) work together, with Holly and Corporal Evans being the actors, the crew build rapport with one another, a significant one being the relationship that develops between Max and Holly, with him acting as her acting mentor. A significant part of the narrative involves Corporal Evans, whose outrageous behaviour creates a lot of tension and he secretely captures a German soldier and holds him captive.

The creative mise-en-scene effectively brings to life a Second World War environment, with Nadia Dunn-Hill doing a great job on the costumes and the hairstyles looking good and the soundtrack consisting of music that is very appropriate for that era. Director of photography Sarah Cunningham expertly mixes black-and-white cinematography with colour.

The viewing is quite dramatic and it is also a psychological thriller, mostly because of Corporal Evans's actions. Some viewers will most likely find the sex scenes hard to watch and there is graphic nudity. These observations are not ment to be nagative, but rather to point out that they highlight what the team is there to do and they also contribute in character development.

It would be fair to state that Bandeira's character is the one who steals the show. A war veteran, one moment he can be utterly quiet and motionless and the other he bursts into a fit of rage, shouting obscenities, making it evident that he is a damaged man. Quarry is quite emotional as the one who has to film intimate scenes that she is uncomfortable with, especially with a man who terrifies her. Captain Clune is the one in charge of the project, a serious and determined man who is also dealing with family issues.

This is a World Ward II story and a commentary about the challenges of filmmaking and acting. Additionally, it is a story about trauma, mental health, self-esteem and self-reflection. Moreover, it also explores the limits of acceptable behaviour.

This is not a comfortable viewing, however, the strong acting, the intriguing plot and the heavy drama make this a skilfully crafted film.

UK premiere at Glasgow Film Festival-March 2026.