Review of Shallow Grave (1994) by Bill B — 05 Mar 2017
WHAT I LIKED: The entirety of 'Shallow Grave' drives for the darkest possible humour, and rather surprisingly it often lands. This is particularly the case in the slightly-more-subtle first half where great performances from this stellar crew shine through far more strongly, and the strong direction pay off best.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: Unfortunately you're left thinking things have gone a bit too far as it goes on because everything spirals out of control, even though very little actually occurs to get you invested. By the end the plot and humour is so off track that it struggles to make any sort of narrative sense at all. Payoff? A disappointing ending with a weak thematic through-line to match.
VERDICT: There's no doubt Boyle is an able film-maker, but his intent here largely gets lost by the end.
This review of Shallow Grave (1994) was written by Bill B on 05 March 2017.
Shallow Grave has generally received very positive reviews.
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