Description

Danny Boyle is one of my absolute favourite directors. Every film he makes is in a different classic genre, and he encapsulates each one perfectly while adding his own twist to it.

Shallow Grave was his first film and paired with screenwriter John Hodge and producer Andrew Macdonald (the trio would go on to make The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary and The Beach), he has created a wonderfully Hitchcockian stylish and suspenseful dark drama. Three wonderfully elitist yuppies (played by Kerry Fox, Ewan Macgregor and Christopher Eccleston) need a fourth to share their amazing flat. When their choice, the mysterious Hugo (Keith Allen) overdoses on his first night there, the trio find a suitcase stuffed with cash in his room and decides to dispose of the body, keeping the money for themselves. Then things get really interesting...

It's a clever, excellently cast film about jealousy, ego and manipulations. The three leads are pitch-perfect and Boyle's eye for visuals saturate the film in shart angles, rich textures and lighting.

Updated Aug 22, 2008