Dirty Pretty Things

R

Released Apr 11, 2003

1 hr. 34 min.

Crime

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

94%

142 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

In London, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is an undocumented alien from Nigeria who works as a cabbie and moonlights as a hotel attendant. He shares living quarters with Turkish émigré Senay (Audrey Tautou). Working late one evening, Okwe is called up to one of the hotel suites. Inside, he finds a prostitute standing by a toilet that's clogged with a human heart. This leads him to the hotel manager (Sergi López), and he soon uncovers a darker side to his employer and his adopted city.

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Premiered Jan 03

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Critics Consensus

An illuminating and nuanced film about the exploitation of illegal immigrants.

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Jeffrey P

Well structured and performed, one of the better movies dealing with the subject of organ harvesting. Was expecting more of the organs being harvested than relationship drama though.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

Full Review

Aldo G

There's artistry here - from director's Stephen Frears perfectly placed camera setups to the delicate and insightful performances of the film's two leads, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tautou - but, in the end I was left feeling unfulfilled by the love story in the middle of a body parts trade-industry crime story.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/25/24

Full Review

Steve D

Properly unsettling but not really engaging,

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/31/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Trading body parts for passports. What more can be said. Well acted, good idea and plot.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I have never in my entire life felt the need to review a movie, especially not a movie nearly 2 decades old, BUT this movie may have been the worst hour and a half of my life it made absolutely zero sense. Just a total waste of time. I literally made a rotten tomato and verified my email and all that shit just to say how dogshit this movie was.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

freeson w

This is a thrilling movie with wonderful beats of storytelling. This is about a moral hero, who is tested in a cruel, viscious world, who rescues a beautiful woman. There's something that some people might regard as old-fashioned here, but I feel like this is classic. I thought the performances by Ejiofor and Tautou were stunning. The look into the gritty world of illegal immigrants was visceral and provocative.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Stephen Frears

Director

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Okwe

Audrey Tautou

Senay

Sergi López

Sneaky

Sophie Okonedo

Juliette

Benedict Wong

Guo Yi

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Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Take it or Leave it

2:11

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Always We Must Hide

2:13

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - The People You Do Not See

2:13

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Protecting Senay

2:13

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - I Bit Him

1:58

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Okwe's Warning

2:09

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Forced Treatment

1:45

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - The Set Up

2:11

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - The Whore & the John

2:13

Dirty Pretty Things: Official Clip - Discovering the Heart

1:59

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David Ansen

Newsweek

This hypnotic, chilling thriller deals with people living in the margins: in this case, London's exploited immigrants...Steven Knight's smart, if overly plotted, script delivers social insights tautly wrapped in genre thrills.

Mar 13, 2018

Full Review

David Stratton

Variety

An intelligent and extremely well-made romantic drama that tells an intriguing story with economy and insight.

Nov 27, 2007

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

An impressive mix of entertainment and social comment, spinning a great mystery even as it confronts an ugly world.

Nov 27, 2007

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

The poetic justice is a bit precious for a film otherwise grounded in a tough reality, but there is a guilty satisfaction to it all, and Ejiofor’s haunting performance burns itself into the film...

May 6, 2023

Full Review

Jordan M. Smith

IONCINEMA.com

A suspenseful, often funny, completely disturbing thriller, Dirty Pretty Things is a gripping film right out of the gate.

Nov 19, 2020

Full Review

Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Although Steve Knight's Oscar-nominated script gets a bit on the nose discussing those who pretty that which we dirty, it tells a compelling tale of perseverance, with a final sound effect like hope gaining altitude.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 25, 2010

Full Review

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Synopsis

In London, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is an undocumented alien from Nigeria who works as a cabbie and moonlights as a hotel attendant. He shares living quarters with Turkish émigré Senay (Audrey Tautou). Working late one evening, Okwe is called up to one of the hotel suites. Inside, he finds a prostitute standing by a toilet that's clogged with a human heart. This leads him to the hotel manager (Sergi López), and he soon uncovers a darker side to his employer and his adopted city.

Director: Stephen Frears
Executive Producer: Paul Smith
Screenwriter: Steven Knight
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: BBC
Rating: R (Language|Disturbing Images|Sexual Content)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 11, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.1M
Sound Mix: Surround

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