Science fiction rarely asks a child to carry the weight of an entire species, but William, director Tim Disney's 2019 drama, builds its whole story around exactly that question.
What is William about?
Researchers Julian Reed and Barbara Sullivan use ancient genetic material recovered from a preserved Neanderthal body to bring a Neanderthal child into the modern world. The boy, William, grows up caught between two identities: raised among modern humans yet biologically the last of an entirely different branch of humanity. Rather than playing the premise for shock, the film follows William as he tries to find his footing in schools, friendships, and a family life never designed for someone like him, while the adults who created him wrestle with what they owe a person they treat, at times, more like an experiment than a son. The drama sits closer to coming-of-age storytelling than hard science fiction, using William's isolation to ask what belonging actually requires when a person is, by definition, one of a kind.
About the cast
The cast is led by Maria Dizzia and Will Brittain, with Waleed Zuaiter, Beth Grant, Paul Guilfoyle, and Susan Park filling out the family and community around William.
Context & significance
William arrives in a small lineage of speculative dramas that use cloning or genetic revival as a lens on identity rather than as a springboard for action, closer in spirit to quiet character studies than to blockbuster science fiction. Its 2019 release places it among a run of family-oriented sci-fi dramas exploring adolescence through a fantastical premise, and the film's genre mix of adventure, drama, family, and science fiction signals a story more concerned with belonging than with spectacle.
Watching William on Ktime
William is available to stream on K-Time with a free account login. K-Time is built for Persian-speaking viewers around the world, offering a Farsi-friendly interface alongside its English-language catalogue, so a thoughtful family drama like this one is easy to find and settle into.