DIRTY PRETTY THINGS

Year: 2002
USA: Miramax Films
UK: Buena Vista International UK
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sergi López, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Zlatko Buric, Sotigui Kouyate, Abi Gouhad, Jean-Philippe ecoffey, Jeffrey Kissoon, Kenan Hudaverdi, Darrell D'Silva, Paul Bhattacharjee, Barber Ali, Yusuf Altin, Rita Hamill, Ron Stenner, Adrian Scarborough, Nizwar Karanj, Deobia Oparei, Ade-Yemi Ajibade, Israel Aduramo, Damon Younger, Jeillo Edwards, Fisun Burgess, Sabina Michael, Michael Mellinger
Director: Stephen Frears
Country: UK
UK: 97 mins
USA Rated: R for sexual content, disturbing images and language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language, moderate sex and grisly images
USA Release Date: 18 July 2003 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 13 December 2002

Synopsis

From Stephen Frears, the Oscar-nominated director of THE GRIFTERS, DANGEROUS LIAISONS and HIGH FIDELITY, comes a new film DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. A strange and gripping thriller it takes place on the side of London that the tourist never sees, set in London's secret underworld, where everything is for sale.

Unusually for a mainstream drama, the story unfolds through the eyes of an illegal immigrant, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian who balances his work as a minicab driver with a second job as a receptionist at a less than respectable hotel. Struggling to earn a living, Okwe shares a flat with a proud Turkish asylum-seeker named Senay (Audrey Tautou), who works as a maid alongside him at the same hotel - a breeding ground for illegal activity.

The delicate balance of Okwe's life is overturned, however, when he makes a shocking discovery in one of the rooms and uncovers a callous underworld that threatens to consume the person closest to him. They can't report it to their corrupt boss. They can't go to the police. And they'll be lucky if they get out alive.