Shallow Grave
Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: February 10, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
EmpireCaroline Westbrook
This, the debut feature from acclaimed TV director Danny Boyle, is the best British thriller for years, a chilling and claustrophobic heart-stopper centring on a moral dilemma destined to fuel many a dinner party conversation. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
In his big-screen directing debut, British film maker Danny Boyle demonstrates wit, intelligence and economy of style. Read full review
100
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
Shallow Grave is persistently cynical and uningratiating, a tale of nasty, greedy, stupid people who don’t realise that the finders-keepers rule doesn’t apply to a suitcase full of cash whose criminal owners will not merely want it back but want to create the specific circumstances in which Juliet, David and Alex will be unable to testify against them in a court of law. Read full review
90
VarietyDerek Elley
Shallow Grave, a tar-black comedy that zings along on a wave of visual and scripting inventiveness. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter
Danny Boyle's effective psychological thriller. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
This is a fairly accomplished first feature -perky, visually inventive, and unusually nast Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJulie Salamon
This clever thriller has the juiced-up, hyperactive feel of a rock video. [07 Mar 1995]
78
Austin ChronicleAdrienne Martini
Boyle, MacDonald, and Hodge honed this wonderful coupling of music, visuals, and clever words, as well as a strange affection for toy babies, in their first film. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Taken as a whole, Shallow Grave is a reasonably enjoyable (for those captivated by this sort of thing) black comedy/noir thriller that justifies at least a portion of the praise being heaped upon it from overseas. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Black comedy and film noir are around one another smartly and wickedly in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave, a tense, twisty Scottish-made thriller that's going to break out of Glasgow in a big way. [24 Feb 1995]
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Just sit back, plug in, and enjoy the shocks - so adroitly administered, so sweetly sensational. [24 Feb 1995]
67
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Danny Boyle's glittering, deadpan, nihilistic little thriller. Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerScott Rosenberg
Smart and unsentimental as it is, Shallow Grave is more than a little forbidding. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
There's something in Shallow Grave that is admirable, beyond its obvious display of youthful talent. [24 Feb 1995]
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