A before-they-were-famous movie that really shows off the talent of the folks in front of the camera (Ewan McGregor in his first major role and Christopher Eccleston longer before DOCTOR WHO) and also the talent behind the camera (director Danny Boyle's film debut before TRAINSPOTTING and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, writer John Hodge in his debut before A LIFE LESS ORDINARY or THE BEACH, and producer Andrew Macdonald before going on to the likes of EX MACHINA, 28 DAYS LATER, and NEVER LET ME GO). McGregor, Eccleston, and Kerry Fox are flatmates in Edinburgh looking for a fourth, but when their new roomie turns up dead with a suitcase full of cash underneath his bed, the three decide to bury the body and keep the cash for themselves. As with most stories of this sort (think A SIMPLE PLAN, BOUND, or TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE), things do not go as planned and the former friends start to get greedy and turn on one another. While the cold calculating nature of the characters will likely turn off some audience members, it fits completely within the tropes of the genre, from OUT OF THE PAST to DOUBLE INDEMNITY, where characters cooly kill and wreck the lives of others for self-gain. I also love that the film is essentially a chamber piece, taking place almost entirely in one setting, with the flatmates turning on one another within the confines of their apartment. SHALLOW GRAVE even begins to have echos of psychological thrillers such as REPULSION or THE TENANT, with psychosexual undertones of both male flatmates being attracted to Fox in their own way, but especially when Eccleston holds up in the attic space with the money and drills holes in the ceiling to spy down on his former friends. Tonally, the film most resembles the Coen Brothers' BLOOD SIMPLE, which is another film that audiences either love or hate. My only complaint is there are a few plot gaps, such as how the gangsters track the money back to the three, but really, who cares when it's this fun? Highly recommend it for fans of 90s neo-noir!
Review of Shallow Grave
