A 2001 Irish drama directed by Kristen Sheridan, adapted from the 1996 play of the same name by Enda Walsh.
Darren (Cillian Murphy) and Sinéad (Elaine Cassidy)—known as "Pig" and "Runt", respectively—were born on the same day, in the same hospital, moments apart. Twins, all but by blood. Inseparable from birth, they are almost telepathic. They are also partners in crime, with an appetite for recklessness, exploration and destruction. But days before their 17th birthday the perfect balance of their world begins to shift. Pig's sexual awakening and increasing jealousy begins to threaten the private universe they have spent their lives constructing. Unable to process the loss of Runt, Pig's unpredictable nature spirals out of control in a trail of violence. The invisible thread between them is stretched to breaking point, the inseparable are about to separate, and which one will survive depends on which one can break free.
This film provides examples of:
- Berserk Button: Subverted. Pig and Runt are trouble-makers from the start, but Pig gets worse and more violent after he starts becoming insanely jealous of Runt. It gets to the point of Pig killing a guy because he was dancing with her.
- Bittersweet Ending: Very, very bittersweet. Pig lets Runt kill him to grant both of them peace of mind. Despite this, Runt is clearly heartbroken by the fact that she killed her life-long best friend, and even though she's free to live the rest of her life, she has no idea how to live it without her best friend.
- Break Her Heart to Save Her: Pig tells Runt to kill him so that Runt can live her life freely, because Pig's violence and obsession has gotten out of control.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Pig can't let go of Runt or stand to see other guys get chummy with her.
- Creepy Blue Eyes: Pig possesses these, thanks to his actor.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": There's a moment when a minor character calls Runt and Pig by their real names (Darren and Sinead), but everyone calls them by their nicknames.
- Fanservice: Cillian Murphy appears shirtless a few times. However, he is delivering a weird sexual monologue in one shirtless scene, and he is "murdered" by Runt in another, so it almost kind of borders on Fan Disservice.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: It's Pig's idea for Runt to smother him because he knows it would be better for her.
- Mercy Kill: When Runt smothers Pig, she is supposedly bringing peace to both of them.
- Mindlink Mates: Pig and Runt are close to telepathic.
- The Narrator: Runt is really the narrator, but Pig also tells a story to an old man on the bus, which makes him sound like he is narrating part of the story.
- Significant Birth Date: The whole plot of the movie is based around two people who were born on the same day, in the same hospital, and grew up next door together, so their (shared) birthday is significant. Also the story takes place before and on their 17th birthday.
- Stalker with a Crush: Pig. Not really a "stalker," per se, since Pig and Runt are best friends, but it is close.
- Strange-Syntax Speaker: Pig and Runt have their own dialect.
- Yandere: Pig is a male version. He is obsessively in love with his childhood friend Runt and absolutely cannot deal with the thought of losing her.
