There are certain filmmakers who are destined for great things simply based on their debut film. Look at
Martin Scorsese with
Who is that Knocking on My Door?,
Christopher Nolan with
Following,
Tarantino with
Reservoir Dogs, Kevin Smith with
Clerks, the list goes on. Each of these films display a new cinematic voice and something that will only bring on curiosity from the viewer of wanting to see what they do next. For theater director and writer,
Danny Boyle, is first film was something that took many by surprise. The 1994 dark film,
Shallow Grave, which starred a very young and unknown,
Ewan McGregor, showcased Boyle's directorial diction with a twisted first feature. Shallow Grave follows the story of three roommates in Edinburgh, Scotland, after a copious amounts of interviews, they take on a fourth roommate who dies of a drug overdose shortly after he moves in. After his death, they discover that he had a very large amount of money in a suitcase. The three roommates to keep the money and to dispose of their dead roommates corpse in a shallow grave. Unbeknown to the living roommates, their dead one was being chased after by very brutal men who are searching for that case. While the roommates become dazzled by the money and traumatized by the ordeal surrounding their roommate, they all try to survive and outdo one another to make off with the money. A brilliant, clever and at points, frightening film, Danny Boyle displayed straight away that his films were not something that would leave the audience without having the film leave with them.
