William (film)

William is a 2019 American adventure drama film written by Tim Disney and J.T. Allen, directed by Disney and starring Will Brittain.

William
Directed by	Tim Disney
Written by	Tim Disney J.T. Allen
Produced by	Bill Haney Jonathan DuBois Amar Balaggan
Starring	Will Brittain
Cinematography	Nelson Talbot Graham Talbot
Edited by	Asim Nuraney
Music by	Craig Wedren
Production company	William Productions
Distributed by	Dada Films
Release date	April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Synopsis

Two biologists remotely clone a living Neanderthal they name William as a way to study the organic and intelligence differences between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The "parents" soon divorce due to differences of opinion on whether to raise William as a normal person or as a lab rat. When William turns 18, he begins to face harsh reality as some bully him and treat him with derision. He saves a female friend who desperately tries to help him avoid joining his ancestors, who had been wiped out 40,000 years before by the very species that raised him.

Cast

• Maria Dizzia as Dr. Barbara Sullivan
• Will Brittain as William Age 18
• Waleed Zuaiter as Dr. Julian Reed
• Susan Park as Sarah
• Callum Airlie as William at 10
• Beth Grant as Dr. Godwin Thomas
• Paul Guilfoyle^[1][2]
• Morgan Taylor Campbell as Judy

Production

The film was shot in Vancouver.^[3]

Release

The film was released on April 12, 2019.^[2]

Reception

The film has a 42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on twelve reviews.^[4]

Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com awarded the film one and a half stars and wrote, "Yet in spite of this curious premise, William simply devolves into a drab, moody morality tale for parents about not treating your kids like test subjects."^[5]

Dennis Harvey of Variety gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Tim Disney’s film strikes a bland compromise between science-fantasy, suspense-melodrama and family entertainment, developing no element to a level that generates more than mild interest."^[1]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Deadly earnest in its highbrow seriousness, William would seem ripe for parody, except that Encino Man got there first."^[2]