An early showcase for the extraordinary talents of actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things also stars a post-Amelie Audrey Tautou in this seedy tale of a Nigerian immigrant (Ejiofor) who discovers a repugnant side to life in London when he stumbles upon the world of black-market organ trading. A cross-cultural thriller that is both outright entertaining and too something a little more morally inquisitive, Dirty Pretty Things makes use of a fantastic ensemble cast and a taut script from one of the best screenwriters around (Steven Knight) to deliver an atmospheric crime picture, one laced with caper-black humour to offset the unpalatable nature of the narrative. There is one genuinely disturbing moment when Ejiofor's Okwe, who drives a cab by day and works in a posh hotel by night, discovers a human heart in the toilet of one of the rooms, but other than that the film mainly deals in mood and tension rather than outright shock.
