Hubert Flynn (Postlethwaite) awakes one morning to find himself transformed into a large rat. His taste for Guinness unaffected, Hubert soon becomes a cause célèbre at his local pub and attracts the attention of conniving reporter Phelim Spratt (Wilmot). But as Hubert’s fame—and profitability—grow, the mounting stress of having an ill-mannered, accident-prone rodent in the family proves all too much for his wife and children. Transplanting Kafka to working-class Dublin, director Steve Barron creates a highly imaginative and disarmingly surreal fantasy that works both as a knockabout comedy and a touching fable about familial love and loyalty.