Shallow Grave

Three friends push the boundaries of trust in this hermetically sealed shocker (Los Angeles Times) from the creators of Trainspotting. Starring Kerry Fox (The Hanging Garden), Christopher Eccleston (Elizabeth) and Ewan McGregor (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace), Shallow Grave is a masterpiece of terror (Movieline), riddled with hairpin turns (Boxoffice) that takes you on a fantastic ride to the lowest depths of human nature. Juliet (Fox), David (Eccleston) and Alex (McGregor) find that their new reclusive roommate has not left the bedroom for days. After kicking in the door they discover his drug over-dosed corpse and a suitcase full of money! Fatefully choosing to keep the money, they know they have to get rid of the remains. But the body won't stay buried and a careless trail from the shallow grave leads the policeand two money-hungry thugsback to the trio. And as the stakes get higher, so does the body count, not to mention their paranoia which is quickly putting their friendships in jeopardy forever!

The first feature from director Danny Boyle, producer Andrew MacDonald, and screenwriter John Hodge (who went on to make the enormously popular Trainspotting, the not-so-well-received A Life Less Ordinary, and The Beach), Shallow Grave begins with three obnoxious roommates mockingly interrogating applicants who want to share their spacious flat. The guy they finally choose doesn't last long--they find him dead from a drug overdose along with a suitcase full of money that he no longer needs. They decide to keep the money; this of course requires that they discreetly dispose of the body, which proves to be a gruesome, traumatic business. They begin to suspect each other of betrayal and become increasingly deranged. The movie wants to be a satirical comment on the greed of British yuppies but is more an exercise in stylish paranoia, where the color of the walls matters more than why the characters behave the way they do. The clever cinematography and macabre humor make Shallow Grave worth watching, just don't expect to like anyone in it. Starring the very hip trio of Kerry Fox (An Angel at My Table, The Last Days of Chez Nous), Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Velvet Goldmine, Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace), and Christopher Eccleston (Jude, Elizabeth). --Bret Fetzer