It's all too easy these days to watch certain types of film and accept their interpretation of real life events as fact. And for students especially, there's a temptation to watch a film about an event instead of actually studying about it properly, just to save time and energy. If this statement is ringing any bells, then let this film serve as a warning to you.

It's 1944 and the second of the world wars hasn't quite gone to plan. The Germans have invaded our shores and it looks like us Brits are on the losing side.

This is not good news, especially for a group of Welsh women who wake up one morn to find that all of the men in their small village have buggered off without a word. With winter knocking hard at their doors, they find themselves with lots of things to do on their farms, with few hands to help.

The situation gets worse when a group of German soldiers take over their village. Luckily for the women, the patrol's commanding offer, Albrecht (Tom Wlaschiha), is a far more understanding chap, unlike many of his peers. He realises that the women the in the village could do with their manly help, so decides to get his men to do just that.

Sarah (Andrea Riseborough) for one isn't buying any of it though. Her husband may have disappeared, possibly to join the resistance, but she has no intentions of mixing with the enemy. But with the passing of each day, as winter takes hold of them all, Sarah's initial chilliness towards the men begins to thaw. It's not long before the whole village generally, and Sarah specifically, find that the lines separating themselves from these seemingly helpful occupiers become increasingly blurred.

I promise you, we'll never go camping in Wales again!

In case you haven't worked it out yet, none of this actually happened. However, the film does manage to make you question whether it did or not, as it all feels pretty convincing. And let's face it, it probably wouldn't be the oddest thing that has happened in Wales.

Director Amit Gupta certainly manages to paint a truly bleak picture with his debut effort, which is an adaptation of the novel by Owen Sheers. The film reeks of isolationism, both physically and emotionally, set as it is in such a bare rural setting. The problem is, this makes it even more difficult to warm to it. Without wanting to be too disparaging, it's not the type of film you would pay good money to see at the cinema. Everything about it is better suited to the televisual box. Nothing about it is remotely cinematic, and it really should have been commissioned as a one off drama for BBC Four.

It also feels like its missing a trick. The notion that the Germans actually one the war is such interesting premise, but by making the story so incredibly insular, it doesn't really have much bearing.

The performances are generally good, with Wlashiha in particular doing well in conveying a German officer with a heart. And sadly Michael Sheen is in it all too briefly to make much of an impact on proceedings.

Unfortunately with every character refraining from showing any real emotion, much like the winter climate conveyed in the film, it only reinforces the sensation of being left even more so in the cold.