Shallow Grave

Name: Shallow Grave
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime
Released: February 10, 1995
Duration: 92 min
Rating: 67
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox

1995

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 158 Ratings

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8.8

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8.8	User Score Universal acclaim based on 158 Ratings

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Shallow Grave

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Movie Details & Credits

Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: February 10, 1995 | R

Starring: Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox

Summary: Three roommates believe they've found the perfect fourth person to share their home. But almost immediately after moving in they find him dead in his bedroom from a massive drug overdose. Even stranger, they find a suitcase full of money under his bed. They are faced with the moral dilemma of whether to call the police and turn in the cashThree roommates believe they've found the perfect fourth person to share their home. But almost immediately after moving in they find him dead in his bedroom from a massive drug overdose. Even stranger, they find a suitcase full of money under his bed. They are faced with the moral dilemma of whether to call the police and turn in the cash or dispose of the body and keep the money for themselves. They decide to keep the money, but then find themselves consumed with violent paranoia toward each other. (MGM)… Expand

Director: Danny Boyle

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Comedy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 92 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Caroline Westbrook

This, the debut feature from acclaimed TV director Danny Boyle, is the best British thriller for years, a chilling and claustrophobic heart-stopper centring on a moral dilemma destined to fuel many a dinner party conversation. Read full review

Derek Elley

Shallow Grave, a tar-black comedy that zings along on a wave of visual and scripting inventiveness. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is a fairly accomplished first feature -perky, visually inventive, and unusually nast Read full review

Scott Brown

Danny Boyle's glittering, deadpan, nihilistic little thriller. Read full review

Michael Wilmington

There's something in Shallow Grave that is admirable, beyond its obvious display of youthful talent. [24 Feb 1995]

Shawn Levy

McGregor is a real charmer, a young Malcolm McDowell with a Scottish lilt; Brain Tufano's photography manages to be both rich and stark at once; Hodge's script has some genuinely arch lines. [03 Mar 1995]

Peter Rainer

Director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge (who is a physician!) keep the action spurting forward, but their approach is oblique. We seem to be catching the odds and ends of scenes; it's as if the filmmakers wanted to make a movie in which all the expected high points were skimped. Read full review

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User Reviews

Perineum

Jan 14, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Written 500 years prior to this film, 'The Pardoner's Tale' (part of Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales') follows a similar plot. In it, three friends go on a journey to 'seek out death'. Along the way, they find a large quantity of gold which they decide to share, only for greed to get the better of them and all three end up dead (the Pardoner declares that they did indeed find death). Of course, in this film only David is killed but all have their lives destroyed by greed.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

themoza

Apr 30, 2011

A slick, clever, well shot thriller. Almost everything about this film works, and works well. Danny Boyle, trÃ©s bien! The great sweeping shot that reveals just who was the quickest, is pure genius. Just great

13 of 13 users found this helpful130

TylerDurden900

Jul 14, 2014

Shallow Grave is a very well shot and acted movie from British director Danny Boyle. The cast is great
with Ewen Mcgregor from Trainspotting. The plot is very clever and the movie has a nice Hitchcockian
feel to it. The story is unpredictable and it will become one of your favourite movies.

14 of 15 users found this helpful141

Oct 25, 2017

The story is literally thrilling and very well done from its time from Danny Boyle as his first feature. Great dialogue, but it is not as popular as the Pulp Fiction (1994) dialogue but it has great lines and what it suggests in this film. The cinematography is very well done especially theThe story is literally thrilling and very well done from its time from Danny Boyle as his first feature. Great dialogue, but it is not as popular as the Pulp Fiction (1994) dialogue but it has great lines and what it suggests in this film. The cinematography is very well done especially the opening where the camera goes through the Edinburgh streets. This suggests the city is all the same rather than what it is going to be when we follow on with the trio. The music is superb, the Simon Boswell piano theme is well suited and also suits for the horror genre, I don't really find this as a standard black comedy thriller, it is something like it is ripped off from Coen Brother's Blood Simple, with more of less funny dialogue but I find this a perfect thriller and quite known for its time and still is today because of Channel 4 which is now a popular channel with many sub-channels. I highly recommend this film. Brilliant film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Spangle

Feb 15, 2017

Killing and dismembering a person changes people, as does coming into a lot of money in one fortunate stroke of luck. Danny Boyle's directorial debut Shallow Grave explores just how much one changes when a trio of friends stumble a dead roommate and a suitcase full of cash, only to then windKilling and dismembering a person changes people, as does coming into a lot of money in one fortunate stroke of luck. Danny Boyle's directorial debut Shallow Grave explores just how much one changes when a trio of friends stumble a dead roommate and a suitcase full of cash, only to then wind up in the crosshairs of the cops and gangsters that are closing in fast. Driven to insanity, this black comedy crime film features some of Boyle's trademark fast-paced action and music, but does feel like a debut film. It really does not distinguish itself too much from other crime films at the time and is pretty thinly plotted. That said, the film is incredibly entertaining, well acted, and showed incredible promise for Boyle.

The star here though is Christopher Eccleston. A reserved, innocent, and dorky accountant, his David is brilliant. Driven over the edge after he and his friends find the body and the cash, his change is spurred on by being the guy charged with burying and dismembering the body. He is unable to cope with what he has done and the added stress on his psyche, being driven into madness. Holing up in the attic and frightening both Juliet (Kerry Fox) and Alex (Ewan McGregor), Eccleston plays an unhinged psychotic incredibly well. He really steals the show here and provides a performance that anchors the film incredibly well. One could argue that this is another film about average working men revolting against their boring jobs, even if David does find some enjoyment out of being an accountant. However, even his boss says that accountants are boring. Therefore, it is essentially his revolt against the monotonous life he leads as a timid, reserved people. Killing unleashes his wild side and gives him a shot of adrenaline like no other and it is one that is highly addictive.

Alongside him, Ewan McGregor and Kerry Fox turn in good performances as well in the film that is noteworthy for launching McGregor's career. Both are solid as more straight-laced characters compared to the unhinged Eccleston. That said, they both are punished violently for their actions in the film with helping with the burying of the bodies. The two of them really do bring the film back to Earth a bit, but their best scene definitely comes as they become more unhinged as well at the end. Out for themselves, the film reaches a very dark comedic finale with terrifically maniacal acting on the part of Fox and McGregor in the closing sequence. That said, the only part that truly feels like Boyle is the opening. With fast-paced music and the cruelly interviewing potential new flatmates while mocking them openly, the quick cuts and general pace feel like Boyle. It is in this opening that he really found his style and it is a shame to see the rest of the film be far more reserved and less indulgent of the typical kinetic nature of his work. The end result is a film that simply feels less polished and stylish than we have become accustomed to from the British director. But, what he does manage to do incredibly well is make the film feel alive. The material is quite derivative at times, especially when with some influence with the Coen brothers' love of having characters steal or fall into a briefcase of money, only to lose it at the end and nobody gets the money. Boyle's film feels similar at times in that regard as he finds comedy in odd places and makes the derivative plot feel fresh and new. Though we know it is not, Boyle's approach is always compelling and distracts from the predictable nature of the storyline. Tarantino's Pulp Fiction is a good comparison, though less self-indulgent than that film and it does also feel a bit more unpolished and hesitant. This is a by-product of it being Boyle's debut, albeit one that hinted at the great things to come.

A largely quite predictable and derivative black comedy crime film, Shallow Grave has that "familiar-yet-fresh" feel of many 1990s crime films. With terrific acting and good direction, Shallow Grave hits a sweet spot and is richly entertaining, even if its lacks the cohesion needed to be a very good or great film.… Expand

1 of 4 users found this helpful13

StaticSpine

Mar 27, 2014

First serious movie by Danny Boyle. The actors are good, though the story is mostly predictable. The overall feel is like in other UK criminal-related movies. It was interesting to see the famous director's first full-length movie, but it was not as good as I expected.

1 of 10 users found this helpful19

TheFineBro

Apr 29, 2013

This movie goes on and on and on, and even if it is funny or very entertained sometimes, it just wasn't that good. Also is one of Danny Boyle's worst and i wanted more of this, a lot more of this

0 of 13 users found this helpful013

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38	#38 Best Movie of 1995
30	#30 Most Discussed Movie of 1995
85	#85 Most Shared Movie of 1995