<Tr> <Th> Language </Th> <Td> English </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Box office </Th> <Td> $2,630 </Td> </Tr> <P> Rat is a 2000 Irish - British - American comedy film directed by Steve Barron and starring Imelda Staunton and Pete Postlethwaite . The film focuses on the transformation of a working - class man into a rat and how his family copes with the startling change . The film's scenario is partly based on Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis . </P> <P> After his usual night of drinking at the local pub, Hubert Flynn (Pete Postlethwaite) returns home and transforms into a rat . Hubert's family each have different views on him now that he became a rodent . His wife Conchita (Imelda Staunton) thinks that this change is supposed to be a lesson to Hubert and that the reason he transformed is his own fault . Their son Pius (Andrew Lovern), destined for a religious life, feels that because his father is now an animal, his family should kill him . Their daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon) feels that the rat is still her father and that they should treat him with love and respect . </P>

2000 film starring imelda staunton and peter postlethwaite