TL;DR – It is a delightfully fun film that gets a bit preachy at times and a little unhinged in places.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and end-credit stinger.

Runt – I paid to watch this film

Runt Review –

There are a lot of things that can make a film Australian: its setting, its production, and the governmental jump ropes it needs to skip through to get funding. There are some films that, even if you removed the drone shots, pans over wheat fields, and set it in a small rural town, you would still know it was Australian, just because of the vibes. Today, we look at a film that is just that, Australian to its very core.

So, to set the scene, the Shearer family lives in the small Western Australian town of Upson Downs. One day, the daughter Annie (Lily LaTorre) found a stray mutt called Runt (Squid). She brought him home, and he soon became an integral part of the family. However, the town has been in drought for 375 days, and local rich snob Earl Robert-Barren (Jack Thompson) took all the local river water for his dam. Life is tight for the Shearers, with Bryan (Jai Courtney) and Susie (Celeste Barber) struggling to pay the overdraft on their overdraft, and her brother Max’s (Jack LaTorre) stunt video channel has not really taken off. However, one day, when Annie sees the canine agility course at the local fair with a cash prize, she sees a way to help her family. The only problem is that Runt does not like to perform when anyone but Annie is watching.

Honestly, Runt is a delightful film because there is an unmistakable charm in every part of the production. While the film is clearly not set in the 1980s, everyone is living in that timeframe. Hair pieces are style, make-up is big, and everyone is being that 20% extra. There is a very camp undercurrent throughout the film as everyone performs to the nose bleeds, and in a movie like this, it works. The story is all about charm, and it leans into that hard, but when your core narrative is about a young girl and her stray dog jumping into a contest to save their family farm, you kind of have to. They also clearly know where some of the most picturesque places in Western Australia are to shoot because this film looks stunning.  

On that front, this film would not have worked if the cast had not nailed the vibe they were going for. Full respect to Lily LaTorre because holding the emotional focus of the film would be difficult for a seasoned actor, but for someone so young to pull it off with such grace was a delight to watch. Also, I think they let Jack LaTorre do some of his own pratfalls, and good on him for committing to the bit. Jai Courtney is there to be the grounding element for the film, so it does not fly too far off the handle. This is important because antagonists Matt Day & Jack Thompson are chewing every bit of scenery they can get their hands on. But Runt is full of character actors who are just having a blast. Joel Jackson as the short wearing Constable Duncan Bayleaf who can never catch Runt, Grandma Dolly Shearer (Geneviève Lemon) trying to find love again on the apps, and Deborah Mailman as the stern but caring old dog handler there to give advice when Annie truly needs it. Finally, shout out to both Squid & Halo and all the other dogs who were running those obstacle courses like bosses.

Narratively speaking, it does land the tone, even if it does follow the general outline of a lot of similar sporting films. We have our antagonists, arcane rules that come out of nowhere, fundraising, putting it all on the line, and, of course, a rich, woefully unlikable person buying up all the properties he has just run into the ground. While the story can dabble in the morality tale arena and get a bit preachy in places, it still had a charm that it needed to succeed. However, I will say that there is one utterly unhinged moment that happens at the end of the film that shocked me; they were able to get away with that without any resolution.             
In the end, do we recommend Runt? Yes, we would. Honestly, it was a delight for most of its runtime, as we got to know the chaos of the Shearer family. If you liked Runt, we would recommend to you A Sunburnt Christmas.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Runt?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Runt
Directed by – John Sheedy
Written by – Craig Silvey
Based on – Runt by Craig Silvey
Music by – Iain Grandage
Cinematography by – Brad Shield & Ali Asad
Edited by – Simon Njoo & Marcus D’Arcy
Production/Distribution Companies – Australian Children’s Television Foundation, Lotterywest, Screen Australia, Screen New South Wales, ScreenWest, See Pictures, Spectrum Entertainment, WA Regional Screen Fund & StudioCanal
Starring – Lily LaTorre, Jai Courtney, Celeste Barber, Geneviève Lemon, Jack LaTorre, Deborah Mailman, Matt Day & Jack Thompson with Tom Budge, Joel Jackson, Sarah Roberts, Riley Stiles, Catherine Moore, Kathryn Schuback, Lucinda Rea, Alexandra Jones, Cooper LaTorre, Isaiah Supadi & Phil Bennett and Squid & Halo.
Rating – Australia: PG;