Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
An undocumented immigrant finds a human heart in one of the toilets of the west London hotel where he works with other undocumented immigrants.
Dirty Pretty Things is a quietly distinctive thriller that uses organ trafficking as a lens for examining London's invisible underclass of undocumented immigrants. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivers a quietly commanding performance, and Audrey Tautou holds her own in an atypical role. The film's social-realist atmosphere and Stephen Frears' assured direction give it a strong sense of place and moral weight. The plot is genuinely inventive in its premise — using a human heart in a hotel toilet as entry point into a world of exploitation — though it follows somewhat conventional thriller mechanics toward its conclusion. The ending is satisfying but not exceptional, resolving things a touch neatly given the bleakness it depicts. Novelty is high because the film finds a genuinely original angle on immigration and exploitation rarely seen in mainstream cinema of the era.