What’s it about?

Runt is a scruffy little stray dog living in Upson Downs, who finds a home with Annie Shearer and her loving (if unlucky) family of delightful weirdos. The two best mates are presented with an opportunity to save the family farm when it turns out the Runt’s life on the run has given them the skills to be a contender in the agility trials in a prestigious dog show.

What’d we think?

Based on the novel of the same name by Craig Silvey, Runt is an absolutely delightful movie, a treat for young and old alike that earns its place in the pantheon of wholesome Australian cinema. It combines the daggy earnestness of The Castle with the idealised portrayal of pastoral life that we got from Babe, while always feeling like its own thing. The movie opens with Runt swiping a link of sausages from the local butcher, then evading the constabulary in a sequence framed as if it’s a comic strip from a newspaper. If the town’s name didn’t tip you off, the setting is silly and sincere at the same time – the characterisation of the core characters takes precedence over the plot (even Runt is sidelined in favour of the humans), and this works in the films favour.

I hugely enjoyed spending time in this little world, with every character having their time to shine, no matter how small their role. Lily LaTorre shoulders a lot of the movie’s weight as Annie, and she does a commendable job alongside her canine co-star Squid in the titular role, and her real-life brother Jack in the role of her on-screen brother Max. There’s a wonderful line-up of supporting talent in the grown-up roles but special mention has to go to Jai Courtney in the role of Annie’s dad Bryan, who pulls up a seat next to Darryl Kerrigan at the head of the table of non-toxic masculine Australian father figures in cinema. In a completely different vein of performance is Matt Day as the film’s villain, chewing so much scenery in his role as the sequined, coiffed, pencil-moustachioed 29-Time Krumpet’s Dog Show Agility Course Runner-Up Fergus Fink that you have to wonder if the production budget was blown out replacing all the scenery he was chewing.

Runt is clever, sweet, and heartwarming in all the best ways, and I really hope that it gets the attention it deserves from local audiences. I took my mum to see it, I’ll be taking my niblings to see it, and you should do the same.