Synopsis
James Gillespie is 12 years old. The world he knew is changing. Haunted by a secret, he has become a stranger in his own family. He is drawn to the canal where he creates a world of his own. He finds an awkward tenderness with Margaret Anne, a vulnerable 14 year old expressing a need for love in all the wrong ways, and befriends Kenny, who possesses an unusual innocence in spite of the harsh surroundings.
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Cast
- William EadieJames Gillespie
- Tommy FlanaganDa
- Mandy MatthewsMa
- Michelle StewartEllen
- Lynne Ramsay Jr.Anne Marie
- Leanne MullenMargaret Anne
- Jackie QuinnMrs. Quinn
- James RamsayMr. Quinn
- Anne McLeanMrs. Fowler
- Craig BonarMatt Monroe
Recommendations
- 90
L.A. Weekly
Ramsay has made a movie in which a universe of hopelessness and decay is penetrated by shafts of light that remake these bleak surroundings in strange and beautiful ways. - 90
Los Angeles Times
Bleak childhoods make for the best cinema, and Ratcatcher stands at the head of the class. - 88
Boston Globe
Fresh, original, and arresting. - 88
Chicago Tribune
One of the most remarkable English-language feature debuts of recent years. - 83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The film manages to make the ordinary extraordinary. It takes visual risks, tells its story subjectively through images and moves confidently to a stunning, imaginative climax. - 80
Time
Writer-director Ramsay neither sentimentalizes nor garishes up the lost children in this observant and poetic drama. - 75
New York Daily News
A grim, poetic, heart-wrenchingly fine ode to the lost children of Glasgow's forgotten class. - 75
Miami Herald
A brilliant film by Lynne Ramsay.
