Danny Boyle's Films Ranked From Worst To Best
7. Shallow Grave (1994)
One of the most auspicious and memorable filmmaker debuts of the 1990s, Shallow Grave is the movie that started it all for Boyle, though you sure wouldn't know by looking at it.
In addition, the film kick-started Boyle's long-standing collaboration with writer John Hodge (who has written six of his films to date) and helped jump-start the careers of Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston.
The hook is elegantly simple: three housemates find their new fourth housemate dead in his bedroom with a suitcase full of cash, and it inevitably tears them apart.
Boyle keeps his film tightly-wound for its entirety while emphasising the blackly comic content of Hodge's script and milking those devilishly fun twists and turns for all they're worth.
The performances are terrific, and it's easy to admire a movie that doesn't strain to make its rather cruel characters likable.