Film Review - Runt

Images courtesy of StudioCanal.

He’s just Runt.

Craig Silvey’s 2022 children’s novel Runt has officially made its way to the big screen. Having achieved significant literary acclaim by winning multiple major Australian literary awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year for Young Readers, it is now Silvey’s second book to be adapted into a major feature film. It should also come as no surprise that this has translated into a tear-jerking family-friendly film that is unapologetically Aussie. RUNT features an All-Australian cast as it explores the heartwarming connection between 11-year-old tinkerer Annie Shearer (9-year-old newcomer Lily Latorre) and her best friend and former stray dog Runt (Squid in her TV debut). 

Annie lives in Upson Downs, a small country town in Western Australia that’s been suffering during a 375-day drought, with no help from the greedy Earl Robert-Barren (the celebrated Jack Thompson) who has instead chosen to build a dam on his property effectively cutting off the rest of the town’s access to their local river. All in a ploy to buy up local properties at a cheap price, with his eyes now set on the small Shearer family farm. When Annie discovers her parent’s dire financial situation she is desperate to do anything to help save her family. Salvation arrives in the form of an Ability Course Grand Championship at the Krumpets Dog Show in London. There’s only one slight issue: Runt will only listen to Annie when no one else is watching. 

In just 91 minutes, director John Sheedy (H is for Happiness) does an amazing job of bringing the heartwarming book to life, which is expected seeing as he’s previously directed two stage adaptations of Silvey’s earlier works. Of course, you can’t go too wrong when the author himself worked on the film as a scriptwriter. The two have successfully maintained the whimsical nature of children’s books that so often is lost when adapted to the big screen. They manage to perfectly balance the refreshing silliness of childhood, as seen when Annie and her daredevil brother Max (played by Lily LaTorre’s own brother Jack Latorre) attempt to end the drought using a homemade rain-making machine, with the hard-hitting reality of a family at risk of losing their home, when Annie overhears her parents Brian (Jai Courtney) and Sue (Celeste Barber) discussing their financial woes. 

LaTorre shines in her lead role as a selfless child determined to go above and beyond what is needed from her in a truly nuanced portrayal of someone forced to grow up too quickly. Similarly, Squid dazzles as the co-lead, a rescue dog herself of an indeterminate terrier mix trained specifically for this film by the We Do Animals Society. They’re the perfect classic cinematic duo: despite the film’s contemporary setting there’s a certain timeless quality to their chemistry. There’s just something undeniably universal and endless about a child and their best canine friend. Of course, the dateless feel to the film is aided by the fact that it was filmed in the historic town of York, a small town about 100 km east of Perth whose unspoiled architecture only adds to the age-old family-centred themes of love, trust, and courage explored in Annie’s relationships with those around her. 

Runt had its World Premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival in August and was one of four finalists at CinefestOZ 2024. So if you’re into Aussie battlers, beautiful Australian scenery, cute speedy dogs, and blatantly crying your heart out in public then Runt is the film for you. 

4.5 out of 5 smush cans.

Runt is screening in cinemas now. For tickets and more info, click here.