Plot
Lieutenant Berton, a Canadian tunneller on the Western Front in France in 1918, digs 78 feet (24 m) beneath a German position to rescue fellow tunnellers, startling a survivor whose screams alert the Germans above. When the Germans detonate charges above him, Berton is trapped underground for twelve days.
On November 2, 1918, three months later, Major Jennings and Dr. Priest of the British Army Intelligence Corps brief Colonel Ashcroft about a deep underground German bunker called "Trench 11" hidden in the Argonne Forest, so-called because it is eleven miles behind the lines. The complex is commanded by a German officer named Reiner, called "The Prophet" by his men and a specialist in chemical and biological weapons. Jennings and Dr. Priest believe Trench 11 is still a base of operations for Reiner to construct bio-chemical weapons as the Germans failed to destroy it during their retreat. The Argonne lies within the American sector and Colonel Ashcroft arranges for U.S. troops to escort Jennings, Priest and Berton there so they can investigate. Berton, who has entered a romantic relationship with a French woman named Veronique, is forced to cut a leave short for the mission. Captain Cooper, Sergeant Pronger, and Private Kelly accompany the trio to Trench 11 and discover dead German soldiers in the trenches. The German Army had shelled Trench 11 as they withdrew.
At the headquarters of the German 5th Army, Reiner and Captain Mueller are ordered to erase all evidence of activities at Trench 11, called the "Wotan Complex" by the Germans. Reiner had failed to detonate the explosives inside during their retreat, which would have prevented the Allies from discovering the true nature of the complex. Mueller, disgusted by Reiner's work, is ordered to escort him to the bunker and ensure it is destroyed.
The Allied soldiers discover evidence of German infighting and sabotage, then find a sealed door underground. A German soldier who was left behind begs the group not to open the door, and becomes hysterical when they ignore him, forcing Cooper to shoot him. Moving deeper into the bunker the men are attacked by a crazed man who vomits on Kelly and arms Pronger's grenade. Berton tosses it away but collapses the tunnel behind them. Jennings orders Berton and Cooper to split and search for an exit while he, Dr. Priest, Pronger and Kelly investigate ahead.
When Berton and Cooper are ambushed by more crazed men, Cooper is stabbed as they fight them off and flee. The other group is attacked by a crazed man in a hospital room, and when killed a worm crawls out of the gunshot wound. Dr. Priest examines the body, finding it full of worms responsible for his insane, violent behavior, and concludes the unnatural worms have been engineered. Pronger and Kelly demand to leave the bunker and a standoff ensues with Jennings before the group is ambushed by German soldiers who kill Pronger and Jennings and capture Kelly and Dr. Priest. Berton and Cooper discover an exit but are also taken prisoner. Mueller has lost his own tunneller to the infected Germans and is unable to reactivate the demolition charges. He attempts to recruit the Allied prisoners to assist, but Dr. Priest refuses to cooperate. Kelly's health deteriorates and Reiner interrogates Dr. Priest. They discuss how the worms were meant to kill livestock in Allied countries but jumped species to infect humans. Reiner was delighted by the result and deliberately bred deadlier strains.
Mueller escorts Berton, Cooper and Kelly to the demolition charges but Kelly succumbs to the parasite's control and kills Cooper before being shot by Berton. Mueller is held at gunpoint and released after Mueller convinces the group that the parasite will spread rapidly if released. Dr. Priest is tortured after asking Reiner to spare civilian lives from the parasite. Reiner remains adamant about using the parasite to destroy Europe and rebuild it under German rule and kills Dr. Priest.
Mueller and Berton discover the explosives were never rigged in the first place. Reiner orders the lower level sealed and flooded with poison gas and begins collecting his parasites. Mueller and Berton escape and try to rig the explosive to a clock timer for a remote detonation but an infected soldier attacks them, breaking Mueller's leg and destroying the clock. Unable to move, Mueller buys time for Berton to arm the explosives. As he attempts to escape, Berton is shot in the leg. Reiner mocks and tortures Berton, who endures it to distract Reiner long enough for Mueller to detonate the explosives. Berton kills the guard in the confusion created by the charges exploding. In the melee with Berton, Reiner trips, a vial pierces his eye, and the tunnel collapses. Berton narrowly escapes and limps away seeing a vision of Veronique.
Production
Development of the film begin in 2011 by producer Tyler Levine and his production company Carousel Pictures. Tyler partnered with Buffalo Gal Pictures to recruit various well known Canadian film crew. The crew includes Chad Giesbrecht (production designer), Dylan Macleod (cinematographer), Francois Dagenais (special makeup effects artist), Mike Munn (film editor), Martin Katz (executive producer), Walter Gasparovic (executive producer), Phyllis Laing (executive producer), and Isaac Clements (co-producer). [1]
Telefilm Canada, The Harold Greenburg Fund, Manitoba Film and Music and the Cogeco Fund helped financed the film's development and production. [1]
Production of the film began in late 2016 and was shot in Winnipeg, Canada. [1] The director of the film, Leo Scherman, described that the biggest challenge in making the film was due to a limited budget for making Canadian films compared to films produced elsewhere (i.e. the United States). Leo stated that he was fortunate and thankful for the generous amount of financial support the film had behind it. [2]
