'The Dig' Review: Why the Treasure Hunt Drama Should Be on Your Watch List Netflix welcomed "The Dig" on its catalog of films, and it quickly became a big hit among fans and critics. The Simon Stone-directed film is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston. It tells the story of a group of excavators and what happened to them during the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo. The treasure hunt drama features Carey Mulligan (Edith Pretty), Ralph Fiennes (Basil Brown), Lily James (Peggy Piggott), Johnny Flynn (Rory Lomax), Ben Chaplin (Stuart Piggott), Ken Stott (Charles Phillips), Archie Barnes (Robert Pretty) and Monica Dolan (May Brown).