Ratcatcher

Ratcatcher is set in a Glasgow housing estate during the summer of 1973, when a refuse workers' strike leaves rubbish piling up in the streets and rats multiplying. Twelve-year-old James Gillespie lives in a cramped flat with his parents and two sisters, waiting for the family to be moved to the new housing being built on the outskirts of the city. He carries a secret: he was present when his friend Ryan drowned in the canal, and he tells no one. He drifts toward the water, forms a tentative friendship with an older girl, Margaret Anne, and spends time with Kenny, a boy whose innocence stands out against the harshness around him.

The film is Lynne Ramsay's first feature, and she also wrote the screenplay. William Eadie plays James, with Tommy Flanagan and Mandy Matthews as his parents, Leanne Mullen as Margaret Anne, and Michelle Stewart and Lynne Ramsay Jr. among the supporting cast.

Released in 1999, it runs 94 minutes and was made as a British and French co-production. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.5 from around 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.1 from roughly 250 votes. A critics' rating of 8.1 from 49 reviews sits above both audience scores. Ramsay went on to direct Morvern Callar, We Need to Talk About Kevin, You Were Never Really Here and Die My Love, making this the earliest of the five features she has directed.