Runt (film)

Runt is a 2020 American drama thriller film directed by William Coakley from a screenplay by Coakley, Armand Constantine, and Christian van Gregg. It stars Cameron Boyce in his final film role, alongside Nicole Elizabeth Berger, Aramis Knight, Jason Patric, Cyrus Arnold, Tichina Arnold, Brianna Hildebrand and Aydin Etehadi.

Plot
Runt follows the life of Cal (Boyce), a teenage boy who experiences troubling incidents that make him a cold and callous person. Cal is interested in Gabriella (Hildebrand) but is being bullied by her boyfriend, Vic (Knight), and his group of friends. The character devolves into pain, self-destruction, and abuse after being subjected to bullying by his peers in high school. The film also shows the lack of adult intervention which causes Cal to grow up into an individual lacking a moral compass.

Production
In July 2018, it was announced that Cameron Boyce had joined the cast of the film, with William Coakley directing from a screenplay he wrote alongside Armand Constantine and Christian van Gregg. It is Coakley's feature film directorial debut. On that same month, Jason Patric, Brianna Hildebrand, Tichina Arnold, Aramis Knight, Nicole Elizabeth Berger, and Mitch Silpa joined the cast of the film.

Filming
Principal photography began in July 2018. The film was reported to be in post-production when Boyce died of a seizure in his sleep on July 6, 2019. He was 20 years old. This was Boyce's final film that he starred in.

Release
The film was released in February 2020 at the Mammoth Film Festival, where it won an award. In June 2021, 1091 Media acquired distribution rights to the film.

Reception
Runt received a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes.