Review of Shallow Grave (1994) by Grayson D — 01 May 2011

Danny Boyle's debut as a film director is very chilling and haunting. Shallow Grave is a brilliant British thriller which avoids the usually clichés and keeps the pace moving as fast as your heart beat.

The film begins almost as if it is a black comedy, which gives the audience the wrong impression and leads them into a false sense of security. When the first shocking scene takes place it hits the audience hard and very sudden which is very effective. The three leads work brilliantly together and are believable right from the start as these ordinary, obnoxious, people who have happened to get involved in a very risky, but promising situation. Ewan McGregor, Kerry Fox and Christopher Eccleston all deliver killer performances and show a wide range of diverse acting skills epically further into the movie. The actors at the beginning have great comic timing (in particular McGregor) but as the film progresses they eventually all become very creepy and twisted towards each other.

Shallow Grave has a very short running time and Boyle has decided to use this to his advantage by avoiding too many plot twists and character developments but instead chosen to go with shocking paths into selfishness, betrayal and to some extent, insanity. There are horrific scenes with which the sound effects add great value and suspense for the scary realism of this movie. Boyle and the actors never let their guard down for a second. The characters always seem on edge and therefore the audience feels the same way. Boyle always remains one step ahead of the audience never letting a guessing game take place and this is due to the constant pace of the film.

This is by no-means a perfect movie there are minor (and I mean minor) disadvantages to movie. Arguably you never care or connect to the three leads and although Boyle's direction includes poetic visuals they sometimes can feel a little off-key. However Boyle really shines as a director in the gangster scenes as his camera angles are close to perfection. I can't but feel though there is a deeper meaning to Shallow Grave which is never truly explained.

Shallow Grave is a fantastic thriller which includes all the perfect qualities needed for a gritty intense movie and keeps the audience enhanced into the disturbing character developments. Danny Boyle knows all the ingredients that go into making a good film and he certainly proves that with Shallow Grave.