Disco Pigs (2001)

20% of critics liked it
(5 reviews)
73% of users liked it
(5,257 ratings)

A friendship between two young people grows into a dangerous obsession in this drama based on the acclaimed stage play by Enda Walsh. Darren (Cillian Murphy) and Sinead (Elaine Cassidy) were born moments apart in the same hospital in a small Irish community. Nicknamed "Pig" and "Runt," Darren and… More A friendship between two young people grows into a dangerous obsession in this drama based on the acclaimed stage play by Enda Walsh. Darren (Cillian Murphy) and Sinead (Elaine Cassidy) were born moments apart in the same hospital in a small Irish community. Nicknamed "Pig" and "Runt," Darren and Sinead grew up next door to each other and became inseparable friends while they were still toddlers; at the age of 16, their bond is even stronger than ever. However, Darren and Sinead also have a fondness for making trouble, and over the years Darren has developed a taste for violence; one of his favorite pranks is to have Sinead flirt with a man at the local disco, and then storm up, posing as her jealous boyfriend, and start a fight. Several people in town feel there's something not entirely healthy about Darren and Sinead's relationship, and Sinead's parents are persuaded to send her away to a school in the northern part of Ireland. Darren's attachment to Sinead grows only more intense in her absence, and in time he runs away to find Sinead and bring her back, only to discover she's made a new best friend, Mags (Tara Lynne O'Neill). Disco Pigs was the first feature from Kirsten Sheridan, whose father is veteran filmmaker Jim Sheridan. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Kirsten Sheridan
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Apr 1, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Apr 29, 2003
Studio: Vanguard

Critic Reviews

Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
Is there a point in this somewhere? No clue, honestly. No clue.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
Deserves to be remembered long after the house lights have gone up.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Spencer S

This movie was a strange jumble of awkward and "artistic" moments between Cassidy and Murphy, strange plot, and basically no reason. Mainly, I just wanted to know why Runt stuck with Pig so long.
Conner R

Completely original. I loved the decline of sanity in Cillian Murphy throughout the film, great acting as always. The story is really intense, yet fun. You become so enthralled in the characters that you can't wait to see what happens when their world comes crashing down.… More
Completely original. I loved the decline of sanity in Cillian Murphy throughout the film, great acting as always. The story is really intense, yet fun. You become so enthralled in the characters that you can't wait to see what happens when their world comes crashing down. It's a romantic tragedy that takes you all the way.
Bannan i

There was just something about this story that was brought to my attention. Darren aka Pig [Murphy] and Sinead aka Runt [Cassidy] are two of a kind, born on the same day in the same hospital...just several minutes apart. Since birth they become friends, first by reaching their tiny… More
There was just something about this story that was brought to my attention. Darren aka Pig [Murphy] and Sinead aka Runt [Cassidy] are two of a kind, born on the same day in the same hospital...just several minutes apart. Since birth they become friends, first by reaching their tiny baby hands through the cradle bars to comfort each other and then 16 years old they do the same. They almost seem to know what they other is thinking, just because of that very reason and because of this are nearly almost always together...in some way. Completely disregarding what society says, they rebel in various mischievous sometimes even malicious ways. 'Pig and Runt - against the world.' Their idealistic world seems to shift when 17 days before their 17th birthday when Pig develops feelings for his other half and becomes jealous of anyone invading their private little world. Their parents agree that their relationship is unhealthy and learn that although Pig can't be helped, Runt has a chance to be 'fixed'. They cart her off to some kind of special school while Pig slowly travels further into himself and their world not knowing what to do with the loss of her. Finally, his mother informs him of where to find her and he sets off desperately in need of finding her for their 17th birthday to find that palace where they can be King and Queen. As he travels various roads to reach her, he becomes steadily more violent spreading his anxiousness through destruction and pain wherever he goes. Then, when he finds her and they run off together to celebrate their birthday...Pig has a plan and Runt follows if not with a bit if apprehension. The events of their joint-birthday steadily grow more and more out of hand and that connection begins to waiver. Cillian Murphy once again puts on a brilliant performance as Pig who grows wild with each passing moment without his Runt. Elaine Cassidy also puts on a rather convincing performance of his other half. Seeing that the film is centred on solely these two...they definitely capture your attention with the strang ways they spend their time together and the things which they do for fun and enjoyment. It seems to be this dark, almost morbid version of a childhood that progresses slowly into adult-hood in a twist of emotions and events that show us what kind of people these two are.
Marcus W

This is a sweet, gritty, low budget, self-destructive, Irish love story. Brilliant performance from a young Cillian Murphy too.
Anastasia B

I watched this in Dublin when it first came out in 2002, before it was released around the rest of Europe. It is Kirsten Sheridan's directorial debut (daughter of the great Jim Sheridan) and as such a first effort I thought it was breath-taking. Based on a play by Enda Walsh (who… More
I watched this in Dublin when it first came out in 2002, before it was released around the rest of Europe. It is Kirsten Sheridan's directorial debut (daughter of the great Jim Sheridan) and as such a first effort I thought it was breath-taking. Based on a play by Enda Walsh (who also wrote the script), it retains some of the theatrical based- on- dialogue structure but it's also sparkling and dancing in bursts of grand, twisted laughter. The imagery is stunning at times and the performances by Cillian Murphy (that you have seen as a secondary character in the latest Batman films) and Elain Cassidy (whom most of you now recognize from "Harper's Island") were brilliant, to say the least. I know I am generous for giving it a 4 out of 5 but it really resonated with me at the time and the experience in front of the silver screen was amazing. In Grece it was only released in DVD.