Welcome back to another look at one of the featured Letterboxd Lists! This week we take a look at the Top 250 Women Directed list where we find today’s film sitting at number 48… Ratcatcher (1999).
Title: Ratcatcher
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Released: May 13, 1999 (Premiere – Cannes Film Festival – France)
Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes
Available to stream on: The Criterion Channel and HBO
One day, during a sanitation worker strike in their Glasgow neighborhood, young Ryan Quinn (Thomas McTaggart) is frustrated that his mother is making him put on boots before heading out. He thinks he looks ridiculous in them while she tells him that he’ll be thanking her if he winds up falling.
As Ryan and his mom are about to head out to visit Ryan’s father in prison, Ryan spots his friend James (William Eadie) playing in a nearby canal. When Ryan’s mother isn’t looking, he sneaks off down to the canal to play with James.
The two begin goofing around, which eventually turns into horseplay. Ryan winds up falling in the canal as James watches carefully, waiting for him to surface. Though, he never does. Ryan winds up drowning and dying in the canal. James, beside himself, runs back home as quick as he can.
James is confident that nobody saw him in the canal with Ryan. He decides to keep quiet as he tries to process the guilt he carries with him. He starts hanging around a local gang of misfits before realizing that he doesn’t care for how they treat others. This is especially true of two kids in the neighborhood, Margaret Anne (Leanne Mullen) and Kenny (John Miller).
James becomes friends with both Margaret Anne and Kenny. With Margaret Anne, he feels a safe form of comfort. While with Kenny, James is able to witness and experience a bit of youthful innocence again.
Will James be able to keep his secret buried deep and live as normal a life as possible?
This is one that has been on my watchlist forever and I am glad I finally got around to it.
Within the first ten minutes of her feature-length writing and directorial debut, Lynne Ramsay lets us all know that things are going to stay pretty bleak.
Normally, you’d see two kids playing in a canal and assume that they’ll play til one of their parents calls. Since we start things off like we’re about to follow Ryan through his daily life, it came as an even bigger shock watching him die.
Yes, the death of Ryan is the focal point of things and despair and emptiness are present throughout. However, Lynne is able to also touch on themes such as friendship, freedom, and escape. She blends each of these seamlessly into little James’ story.
There is very minimal dialogue in Ratcatcher (1999), instead leaving the character’s actions to do most of the talking. What makes this so impressive is that it is done primarily with child actors who had little to no acting experience.
Ratcatcher (1999) was a beautifully tragic and bleak watch.
If you’re in the mood for a light watch, look elsewhere.
Ratcatcher (1999) is one that you need to be in the right headspace for before sitting down to watch.
Though if you find yourself in that headspace, it is absolutely worth checking out at least once.
Have you seen Ratcatcher (1999)?
If so, leave a comment below or reach out on Bluesky and tell me your thoughts on it!
Curious to see what else I’ve been watching lately?
Give me a follow over on Letterboxd where I post quick 1-2 sentence thoughts on everything that’s not covered on the blog.