The Earthling (1980) on Netflix
NR19801h 37mActionAdventureDrama
Patrick Foley learns his cancer is terminal and returns to the Australian outback to die in solitude. Shawn Daley, ten years old, is left alone there when his parents are killed.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb6.8/102,024 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Patrick Foley, a jaded loner, has spent much of his life drifting. When he learns that he has terminal cancer, he travels back to the Australian outback, the country where he grew up, intending to die there by himself. Ten-year-old Shawn Daley is on a trip with his parents when their RV goes over a cliff; the crash kills the couple and leaves the boy alone and traumatized in the bush. Foley comes across him. Unwilling to take charge at first, he stays with the boy anyway, and the two travel together through the wilderness. Foley shows Shawn how to survive out there.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Earthling (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- While making The Earthling, director Peter Collinson's treatment of child actor Ricky Schroder was harsh enough that co-star William Holden personally stepped in to protect the boy, causing massive friction between Holden and Collinson.
- Director Peter Collinson discovered during the filming of The Earthling that he had terminal lung cancer, and he died the following year.
- William Holden and Ricky Schroder got along during the shoot, and Schroder later named one of his children Holden in honor of his co-star.
- The Earthling drew little notice in cinemas but went on to become a daytime staple on HBO and other cable-movie channels during the 1980s.
