Shallow Grave

Danny Boyle is a great director, as long as you get accustomed to his style. The same goes for Shallow Grave. It took me a while to get into the film and get on the same wavelength with it. Shallow Grave was Boyle's directorial debut, and I have to say, it was a successful first effort. The film stands on two major strengths. The first is the three main actors, each with a very different character, yet all of them delivering amazing performances. I was probably most impressed by Christopher Eccleston, who initially seemed like a bit of a pushover, but in the end, he turned out to be the biggest killer. The second strength is the flawless plot, which has no holes, and the story here is truly solid. Where I’d be more critical in my evaluation is with some of the long stretches without a single cut. I understand that this helps build a great atmosphere, but at times, I felt it unnecessarily dragged the film down. I’ll definitely remember the scene where two gang members fell from the attic, dead, after being beaten with a hammer. And especially that ending, which wasn’t disappointing and gave the film a dignified conclusion. Ewan McGregor simply outsmarted everyone :). I give it 83%. (23/06/2017)

The first few minutes make it clear that the whole film is going to be in a rather kinky and perverted vein, which is of course not unreasonable considering the central trio. Shallow Grave is a wonderfully playful film, whose greatest strength is in the gradation, the perfect directing of the actors, and the occasional "lightening", or rather black humor, which is scarce here, but even in a few moments it is excellent (carrying a body down a staircase, for example). This is the Danny Boyle I like. His early work is almost an affair of the heart for me, and along with Trainspotting I rank Shallow Grave as one of the best, if not the best, Boyle has ever made. It doesn't yet have a fat budget or Hollywood stars par excellence, it's all so "pure" and honest and you can feel how lovingly it's made. I really, really liked it. (19/06/2011)

Danny Boyle has a knack for getting the most out of the minimum. In this case, it was decent value for money, which he still had to scrape together. But it paid off. The beginning is relatively weak and in order for the film to reach its thrilling end, the viewer must endure a significant number of mistakes and dead ends, but as a whole it is enjoyable and the effort is visible, so there is no reason not to accept the situation. The most annoying thing is the blatant made-for-TV production design, the irritating accent of the main characters, and some incomprehensible scenes where several minutes of crucial connections and key information seem to be missing. Even so, this project is worth seeing, at the very least it was the launching pad of Ewan McGregor’s career. (14/04/2008)

The film has a good idea in the exposed body of a junkie who left behind a lot of money. However, Boyle had to break the whole plot mightily over his knee twice to get to the end. Thankfully, he showed how much talent he has and very skillfully skated through both a regular psycho-thriller and a distinctive variation of Dostoevsky’s "Crime and Punishment." Admittedly, the film eventually ended up being shallowly cheap, but that made the point all the more entertaining. Genius or incompetence? I got caught up in it and had fun at the same time, so thanks, Danny! (11/05/2007)

Shallow Grave is exactly the type of thriller I'm not too fond of, and there are plenty of them made on this subject, but I have to say in Danny Boyle's rendition this one worked very well for me! A hell of a black-humoured, energetic and suspenseful ride from start to finish! I had a lot more fun than I did with A Simple Plan. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.75% (08/02/2014)