'Trash" takes on greed and garbage — two issues that are linked to crucial global problems of climate change and poverty. These issues are really all part of one big family of troubles, but if one of these factors can be destroyed, chances are it might not be so hard to stomp out the others.
In "Trash," a trio of boys living in Rio de Janeiro decide to do something about the greed thing, thinking (rightly) that if they manage to slay this monster, everything in their lives will turn out for the better.
The film is directed by Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliot," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"), which means, among other things, that he can deploy child actors in a way that doesn't demean or cute-ify them. Working with three Brazilian teens who had never been behind a movie camera, Daldry drew on their street smarts and cynicism along with the touching innocence of their facial expressions.