Ratcatcher
1999
**
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Cast: William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews, Michelle Stewart, Leanne Mullen, James Ramsay, Lynne Ramsay Jr., John Miller, Bryan McCardie, Anne McLean
In 1973, 12-year-old Glaswegian boy named James seeks escape from the harsh realities of his environment and eventually befriends Margaret Anne, a slightly older girl who is sexually exploited by a gang of boys. Lynne Ramsay's first film is a British kitchen sink drama similar to other grim directorial debuts, such as The War Zone (1999) and Tyrannosaur (2011). This desperately bleak coming-of-age story is well acted and directed, but it is set in an environment that feels relentlessly depressing and hopeless. Almost every character on screen is thoroughly unpleasant, including James, and Ramsay never misses an opportunity to make a bad situation even worse. Not my cup of tea.
