''William'' is a 2019 American adventure drama film written by Tim Disney and J.T. Allen, directed by Disney and starring Will Brittain.

Synopsis

Two biologists remotely clone a living

Neanderthal Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...

they name William as a way to study the organic and intelligence differences between Neanderthalers sand 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 Maria Dizzia is an American actress. Dizzia was nominated for the 2010 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in '' In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play)''. Early life and education Raised in Cranfo ...

as Dr. Barbara Sullivan * Will Brittain as William Age 18 *

Waleed Zuaiter Waleed F. Zuaiter (; born January 16, 1971) is a Palestinian-American actor and producer who has performed in on-stage productions in Washington, D.C.; Berkeley, California; and New York City, as well as several film and television productions. H ...

as Dr. Julian Reed *

Susan Park Susan Park is an American actress. Early life Park was born in the United States, the daughter of Korean immigrants. Career Park began acting in 2009. In 2010, she performed in a one-woman show titled ''Diaries of a K-Town Diva'' directed by ...

as Sarah *Callum Airlie as William at 10 *

Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actor, character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her ...

as Dr. Godwin Thomas *

Paul Guilfoyle Paul Vincent Guilfoyle () (born April 28, 1949) is an American character actor. He was a regular cast member of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', on which he played Captain Jim Brass from 2000 to 2014. He returned for ...

*Morgan Taylor Campbell as Judy

Production

The film was shot in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Release

The film was released on April 12, 2019.

Reception

The film has a 42% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on twelve reviews. Nick Allen of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' 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." Dennis Harvey of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' 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."

Frank Scheck Frank Scheck is an American film critic. He is best known for his reviews in the ''New York Post'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter''. He formerly edited ''STAGES Magazine'' and worked as a theater critic for the ''Christian Science Monitor ''Th ...

of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' 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 ''Encino Man'' (also known as ''California Man'' in several territories) is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Les Mayfield in his directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates ...

'' got there first."

References

External links

* * 2010s adventure drama films 2010s American films American adventure drama films Films shot in Vancouver {{2010s-US-film-stub