Runt’s Surprising Final Scene Threatens to Undermine the Movie’s Message

Runt’s Surprising Final Scene Threatens to Undermine the Movie’s Message

Runt is supposed to be a cautionary tale about teen bullying, but the final scene almost celebrates the escalation of violence in the film.

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Runt’s Surprising Final Scene Threatens to Undermine the Movie’s Message

Cameron Boyce tragically died from an epileptic seizure at only 20 years old. It’s been over two years since his death, but his final film, Runt, was just released in 2020. Aligning with Boyce’s mission of reducing violence and negativity, the film is a cautionary tale about what can happen when teen bullying is not addressed by the proper means. Unfortunately, though, the film’s final scene threatens to undermine its message.

In Runt, Boyce plays a talented high school artist named Calvin. However, he’s isolated and unsupervised, and he’s not exactly in the good graces of the football jocks. Beaten up multiple times for various incidents, Cal decides to stand up for himself and push back against the bullies.

Runt’s Surprising Final Scene Threatens to Undermine the Movie’s Message

He firebombs star quarterback Vic’s sports car and buys brass knuckles to defend himself. He breaks Vic’s finger during a big fight, which ruins the quarterback’s chances at a scholarship. To get revenge, Vic goes to beat up Cal at his home but ends up killing Runt, Cal’s dog, instead.

Losing himself in the ever-growing cycle of violence, Cal concocts a plan to get even in a permeant way. He sneaks into the locker room during a football game and replaces the bullies’ drugs with AJAX. Vic, who can’t play because of his finger, is appalled when he sees his friends being rushed to the hospital during halftime. Reeling from when he’s just seen, Vic is enraged when Cal tells him what he did. A chase ensues, but Cal has a baseball bat that he uses to pound Vic to a pulp. Then, one of Cal’s friends shows up with a gun, intending to break up the fight. However, Cal takes the gun and tells the fiend to leave. Wanting the shoot Vic, Cal is only barely talked down when his girlfriend shows up.

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Runt is supposed to be a cautionary tale, portraying how violence can be the result of bullying and intolerance. A post title card says, “[Cameron] also understood that this film highlights what can happen if young people do not have positive outlets.” It’s a great message, but what happens in the closing minutes of the film is surprising.

After Cal’s girlfriend talks him down from killing Vic, she and Cal walk off together to have a smoke and go to the homecoming dance. It’s great that he didn’t kill Vic, and it is implied that Cal will have to face the consequences for his actions. However, none of that is shown. By having the final scene show Cal “getting the girl” and effectively walking off into the sunset, Runt borders on portraying Cal as a type of hero. It’s basically celebrating his escalation of violence to the point where the bullies could no longer fight and advocating for a type of vigilante justice. The ending title card tries to cover up this ending, but regardless, it’s an odd way to conclude a “cautionary” tale.

Staring Cameron Boyce, Runt is available to rent or buy now on Prime Video and VUDU and Apple TV.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/runt-final-scene-undermines-message/

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