Quartile rating: 7/10 · 1 rating
Set in Brazil, three kids who make a discovery in a garbage dump soon find themselves running from the cops and trying to right a terrible wrong.
Trash is a competent and well-intentioned thriller set in the favelas and dumps of Rio de Janeiro, directed by Stephen Daldry with solid craftsmanship. The three young leads deliver naturalistic performances that ground the film emotionally, and the Rio setting is vividly captured. However, the plot follows a fairly conventional 'kids stumble onto corruption and go on the run' template, and the ending feels somewhat rushed and tidily resolved without fully earning its emotional payoff. The film is engaging but doesn't quite distinguish itself from similar socially conscious thrillers about poverty and institutional corruption.