Ratcatcher

HOW POVERTY STOLE SOMEONE’S CHILDHOOD. this movie isn’t about trash piling up or rats or broken houses. it’s about what it’s like to be a child surrounded by adult problems. carrying sadness too heavy for your age and not knowing where to put it. it’s lyrical and raw in how it shows family, childhood, and what poverty leaves behind. every frame feels carefully held like slow, soft, and full of meaning. it’s literally both like a dream for it's cinematography and a quiet scream for it's content. i love how this film uses symbolism that speaks so much about poor youth. the glasgow setting is run-down, dirty, full of garbage it shows how kids grow up in places where their needs, feelings, and safety are ignored. the housing crisis and the lack of care aren’t just in the background, they are the background. it’s hard growing up in a world that’s already falling apart. there’s no comfort, no guide. just a quiet ache. the film shows what it’s like to face death, poverty, and abandonment before you even know what to do with those things. his dream of the new housing estate is everything. it’s what every kids wish life could be: clean, safe, peaceful. whether he ever reaches it or not doesn’t matter. it’s the way he escapes. when things get too heavy, he lean into silence or imagination. and that’s what survival can look like. every kid deserves to feel safe. to play. to dream. to make mistakes without it being the end of the world. but you see how that’s taken away. it really shows how some kids are forced to grow up too fast, carry things too heavy, and live in a world that doesn't protect them. it’s unfair. childhood should be soft, not something you have to survive ;< rated 5 stars. probably one of my favorite coming-of-age films. it’s personal to me as someone who grew up in a poor family. someone who’s always wanted change and still trying to find peace. #52: a criterion film from your watchlist | my criterion challenge 2025