Talk:Shallow Grave
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[edit] Very detailed synopsis
The plot of the film concerns three flatmates who discover their new lodger dead in his room with a large amount of money. The three flatmates are Juliet Miller (a doctor), Alex Law (a journalist) and David Stephens (an accountant). They take on Hugo as a flatmate, but he soon dies of a drug overdose. Finding a large amount of money under his bead, they decide to dispose of the body and keep the money. (Many critics have wondered why they simply did not call the police about Hugo's death and simply not mention the money. Evidently, the three flatmates may have surmised that Hugo took part in some recent heist or kidnapping, and simply did not want to risk one of his criminal associates seeking the money once his death was reported.) They implement a plan to severe Hugo's hands and feet, as well as destroy his teeth (thus making identifying him by fingerprints and dental records impossible). They ditch Hugo's car into a quarry.
David becomes a much more paranoid and ruthless person after having gone through these events, and eventually holes up in the attic with the money, drilling holes in the ceiling to keep watch on events. Eventually, some of Hugo's criminal associates somehow find Hugo's car in the quarry (how is not explained) and from there manage to track down the three flatmates. David catches them by surprise and kills the criminals, whose bodies are similarly disposed of. However, the trust between the flatmates has by then disintegrated. Juliet appeals to David, attempting to woo him into sharing the money with her, though she has already evidently made plans to abscond with it, as she buys a ticket to Rio in Brazil. Eventually, forest workers find the bodies in the woods. The police manage to track Hugo's movements to the town where the flatmates live, and even question them.
This serves as the flashpoint. The three flatmates have a final confrontation. During this confrontation, David attacks Juliet, and Alex comes to her rescue. David stabs Alex through the shoulder, pinning him to the floor. Juliet stabs David through the neck. Since she cannot take Alex with her, she forces the knife even further into the floor.
However, though Juliet takes off with a briefcase she thinks contains the money, it in fact only contains only newspaper; Alex had earlier somehow managed to switch the money, and the camera shows us it is now under the floor. Aside from this, the end of the film is ambigous. Alex is shown still pinned to the floor, his eyes still moving, and smiling. The police are on the scene, but nobody seems to be helping him.
1. It is not clear how soon after he was stabbed that the police found Alex. It is possible that he screamed for help during the night and managed to rouse some neighbors, who presumably would have busted down the door and called the police.
2. A shoulder would would not necessarily kill someone, especially if the knife was left in, slowing down the bleeding. Then again, if he was wounded in a way that the blood reached the lungs or a lung was punctured, that could cause death.
3. Pictures are being taken off his face. It is possible that he had slipped into unconsciousness, leading people to think he was dead, but that the flash woke him up.
4. His blood does not appear to have coagulated, the way a corpse would have.
5. In the scenes taking place after the police have arrived, on the cramped image of the home video version, it is not clear if David's body has been removed or not. Some think it was, and think that if David's body was taken away and Alex is still there, that would indicate that Alex was alive, but on the truncated image of a tv screen, it is hard to tell if we are seeing the spot where David's body should be had his corpse been there.
6. David says "Hello, Inspector" to the policeman, but it is not clear if that is a voiceover from his spirit or him actually speaking (thought the Inspector does seem to respond by turning his head).
7. Some have accused Danny Boyle of plot holes, so the fact that the paramedics should have been helping Alex is no different than movies where characters have battles at construction sites after dark with no security guards intervening. Boyle ignored this just so he could set up the scene of Alex laughing and the camera panning down to show the money underneath the knife transfixing Alex. Template:End spoilers
[edit] Trailers and alternative edits
I saw a trailer for Shallow Grave before cinematic release in Australia. It included a scene of Alex Law's grave, clearly showing his headstone. I've heard that some releases include this scene. Can anyone quote the name, DoB & DoD details off the headstone? Alex Law 16:52, 12 May 2006 (UTC)
