Little Criminals (film)

Little Criminals
Directed by	Stephen Surjik
Produced by	Phil Savath Barbara Kelly
Written by	Dennis Foon
Starring	Brendan Fletcher Myles Ferguson
Music by	Fred Mollin
Release date	1995
Running time	91 min.
Country	Canada
Language	English

Little Criminals is a 1995 Canadian film. It was directed by Stephen Surjik. The film was shot in Vancouver in the spring of 1995. The camerawork is mostly done hand-held and at eye level for a more realistic feeling.

The story is mainly about an eleven-year-old child named Des. Des and his friends engage in a variety of illegal activities including vandalism, stealing, lighting fires, mugging people and using drugs. In Canada, the age of criminal responsibility is twelve. Des takes advantage of this law because he knows that the police cannot charge him because of his young age.

When Des meets Cory, they become good friends and start a crime spree, feeling like nothing can stop them. Eventually, Des's mother admits she can't handle her child, and Des ends up in an assessment centre for troubled children. In the centre he meets Rita, a psychologist who tries to understand Des's motivations, and over time gets some positive results on his behaviour. But when Rita informs Des that they are trying to find him a foster home, Des flees as soon as his friend Cory visits him. They both want to get out of the city and plan to rob Chet, the local dealer. During the robbery, Des accidentally kills Chet and threatens Cory. In the end, Cory is afraid for Des and wants nothing more to do with him. Des, still on the run because of his escape, goes to his home, sets the house on fire, and conceals himself in his personal hideout, the closet drawing and falls asleep as the house is on fire.

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