TL;DR – An uncomfortable tale that draws you in, holds you captive, and then leaves you thinking.    

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Rat Catcher Review –

As I sat down to wonder what I would watch as the weather wandered by and the well-lit day wound to a weary – what the word for end is that starts with a w would be that I can’t think of at the moment even though I scoured my mind looking for one. I looked at Netflix to discover that there is a Wes Anderson production of a Roald Dahl short story, and that is a combination you don’t say no to.

So to set the scene, one morning, an editor (Richard Ayoade) tells us of the life of a Rat Man (Ralph Fiennes) who has come on behalf of the town to a local garage run by Claud (Rupert Friend). He is a peculiar man who looks much like the prey he hunts. But then you see, rats are clever prey, as they are watching you as you pursue them.    

This was a slightly surreal watch, because I was ripped back in time to when I was in high school and learning about Brechtian Theatre. I wished I had this short story as an example of how you could do it in a way that brings your audiences in rather than alienating them. For every invisible prop and fourth wall break, you get dialogue like “with a rich fruity sound as if he was gargling with melted butter” that repulses and intrigues.

When you pare your production back to only the bare essentials, it means that you have nowhere to hide, and you need to make every element land flawlessly. This is such a short film. In its only seventeen minutes, I was captivated, repulsed, unsettled, and profoundly perplexed. Yet, it has an awful lot of magnetism that brings you in. You find yourself leaning in, closer to the screen, almost like someone has a pied piper sucking you into the story.”

In the end, do we recommend The Rat Catcher? The sets, costumes, performances, and editing all come together to create an experience that delights and disgusts. Much like the editor, I could not look away, captured by the performance, even when it makes you uncomfortable at every moment.    

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Rat Catcher
Directed by – Wes Anderson
Screenplay by – Wes Anderson
Based on – The Ratcatcher by Roald Dahl
Music by –
Cinematography by – Robert Yeoman
Edited by – Andrew Weisblum & Barney Pilling
Production/Distribution Companies – Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Picture & Netflix
Starring – Richard Ayoade, Ralph Fiennes, Rupert Friend
Rating – Australia: G