The Kid

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Vincent D'Onofrio directs. Matthew J. Lloyd behind the camera. Latham Gaines scores. Katie McQuerrey cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Earned back only 20% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
• 2Released 7 years ago.
• 3Directed by Vincent D'Onofrio, shot by Matthew J. Lloyd. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Latham Gaines. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Katie McQuerrey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Ethan Hawke and Dane DeHaan and Jake Schur carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "It only matters the story they tell when you're gone".
• 8IMDB entry: tt4975920 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 8 themes, including "sheriff", "based on true story", "posse", "outlaw gang".

The technical file

Cinematography

Matthew J. Lloyd

Original score

Latham Gaines

Editing

Katie McQuerrey

Production design

Sara K. White

Makeup / hair

Tarra D. Day

Sound

Bob Chefalas

Stunt coordinator

Jake Dashnaw

Runtime

100 min · 1h 40m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$8,000,000

Box office

$1,561,698

Return

20% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

The Kid (2019) ↗

Also by

Vincent D'Onofrio

• 
  Don't Go in the Woods

  2012 · ★ 2.4
• 
  Night of the Cooters

  2022

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Peter McGinn2020-08-29
  ★ 7/10

  I thought this was a fairly entertaining western. Hardly a classic, but better than many I have seen. It seems like they accurately followed some of the sequence of interactions between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett, from what I have read. I mean, it is a feature film, not a documentary. I will say that I think they tried to shoehorn the kid (the child, =as opposed to The Kid) a bit too much into the orbit of William Bonney. And some of his actions seem too old for the age he is portrayed as being. Maybe they should have made him a teenager and be done with it. Also, a few people referred to the young co-star as the Kid, so we had two "the kid"s. And I think his two voiceovers were unnecessary distractions. I can't see myself watching this again anytime soon, but there was enough depth to it so I don't regret the time spent watching it.

  Read full review ↓
• GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
  ★ 1/10

  There are a LOT of ways that this has been handled by Hollywood over the years. Pat the good guy, Pat the friend of Billy, Billy the good guy, Billy really lived. Most of the time, not matter what path it takes, there is an element of fun and a really decent story behind it. This one a great cast, it takes a great story and it kind of sucks all the drama out of it. It makes it all a bit flat and, honestly, it should be thrilling. I'm not sure what went wrong here. It's watchable...but it's not good. It's a flat an unambitious telling of the Billy the Kid story and done with all the creativity as a paint by numbers.

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2025-08-25
  ★ 7/10

  Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett seen through the eyes of an adolescent runaway Fugitive teen siblings (Jake Schur and Leila George) hook up with Billy the Kid (Dane DeHaan) and his gang as he’s on the run from Pat Garrett (Ethan Hawke) in New Mexico, 1881. Chris Pratt has a side part as the dubious uncle of the teens. “The Kid” (2019) was helmed by Vincent D'Onofrio (whom you might remember as the mentally troubled recruit at boot camp in “Full Metal Jacket”). It comes in the tradition of “One-Eyed Jacks,” which was originally a Billy the Kid yarn by Sam Peckinpah (with Stanley Kubrick set to direct) until Brando took over the project and changed the story. Peckinpah eventually got his script made into a movie a dozen years later, “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” This isn’t quite as notable as “One-Eyed Jack,” but it’s superior to Peckinpah’s lyrical film. The main characters are all effectively fleshed out and there’s a good scene where Garrett succinctly explains the Lincoln County War to the boy. It ranks with the better Billy the Kid tales, although I prefer “Young Guns,” and “Old Henry.” It’s at least on par with “Young Guns II.” It runs 1 hour, 40 minutes, and was shot at movie ranches in the Sante Fe area of north-central New Mexico. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• SU

  Suretone Pictures

• MI

  Mimran Schur Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Casting AssistantSamantha Plont
• Casting AssociateJames Watlington
• Casting AssociateJennifer Schwalenberg
• Casting AssociateRaylin Sabo
• Casting DirectorAngelique Midthunder
• Casting AssociateRiva Cahn Thompson
• ADR Voice CastingBarbara Harris
• Executive ProducerJonathan Bross
• Associate ProducerRick Solano
• Set DresserJames Cody Duncan
• Boom OperatorDaniel Carlton
• ADR MixerTom O'Connell
• First Assistant DirectorJames Currier
• Second Assistant DirectorMichael Chochol
• Makeup ArtistTarra D. Day
• Makeup ArtistSvetlana Britt
• Sound Effects EditorColl Anderson
• Associate ProducerVikram Singh Lamba
• Production AccountantKerry Newberry
• Location ManagerShani Orona
• Dialogue EditorEric Hirsch
• Foley ArtistLeslie Bloome
• Dolly GripHarland Espeset
• Assistant Location ManagerErik Keeling-Torrez

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• sheriff
• based on true story
• posse
• outlaw gang
• 19th century
• pat garrett
• new mexico territory
• brother sister relationship

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)2019-03-08R

Also known as

International titles

• The Kid - Der Pfad des GesetzlosenDE
• The KidUS
• スリー・ジャスティス 孤高のアウトロー：2019JP