Patrick Wilson Calls for Listening to Kids on Gun Violence at Sundance Premiere

At the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, Patrick Wilson delivered an emotional and pointed message about gun violence in the United States while introducing his new film, Run Amok.

The dramedy, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, centers on the long-term trauma left behind by a school shooting. Wilson stars as a high school teacher still wrestling with the tragedy a decade later. The film also features Molly Ringwald and Margaret Cho, and marks the feature debut of filmmaker NB Mager.

Told largely through the perspective of teenagers, Run Amok follows Meg, played by Alyssa Marvin, who stages a play reenacting the shooting that killed her mother and several others. That point of view, Wilson said during a post-screening Q&A, was what drew him to the project.

“We all, as artists, are trying to figure out how to reflect how we normalize violence, gun violence,” Wilson said. While acknowledging that many films and scripts have tackled the subject with good intentions, he added, “I don’t want to hear adults talk anymore about normalizing this.”

Wilson became visibly emotional as he spoke, noting that his own children were seated in the audience. He reflected on how coming-of-age stories have changed for younger generations.

“When you think about the coming-of-age stories that we all grew up on—many starring Miss Molly Ringwald over there—this generation has a totally different sense of coming of age,” he said. “They’ve grown up normalizing lockdowns and what that means. We have to listen to kids, and we have to understand their point of view.”

“They are living it,” Wilson continued, drawing applause from the crowd. “And they will lead us to the future. Because God knows we are not doing enough right now.”

Wilson’s remarks came amid a tense atmosphere in Park City, where Sundance is being held for the final time before relocating to Boulder, Colorado, next year. Over the weekend, protesters gathered to demonstrate against United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, by a border patrol agent in Minneapolis.

As Run Amok makes its debut, Wilson’s message underscored the film’s central theme: that the voices of young people affected by violence deserve not just attention, but action.