The Mighty 1998

Kevin ‘Freak’ Dillon, Kieran Culkin, is a 12-year-old boy living with Morquio syndrome that forces him to rely on leg braces and crutches. He shares a tight, loving home with his mother Gwen Dillon, Sharon Stone who is known in the neighborhood as Fair Gwen, and who keeps a brave, hopeful eye on her son. Across town, Maxwell ‘Max’ Kane, Elden Henson, is a 14-year-old with his own set of challenges. He has struggled in school, has the caretaking support of his maternal grandparents Gram and Grim, played by Gena Rowlands and Harry Dean Stanton, and endures the harsh taunts of a gang led by the delinquent Blade. Max’s life shifts when Kevin becomes his reading tutor, and an unlikely friendship blossoms that will redefine both boys’ worlds.

Together,Kevin Kieran Culkin and Max Elden Henson embark on a string of adventures where Kevin’s courage and Max’s strength complement one another in surprising ways. Their bond turns them into a duo they affectionately call “Freak the Mighty,” a name that crowns their partnership with a sense of shared identity and resilience. When the two attend a local festival to watch fireworks, they find themselves escaping danger as Blade’s gang closes in; they plunge into a lake, Kev riding on Max’s shoulders, and emerge with a renewed sense of trust in one another. This newfound companionship allows Kevin to participate in school activities he couldn’t before, and it earns him a place among his peers that had seemed out of reach. A visit to a museum deepens their friendship as Kevin names their teamwork and courage after Sir Galahad’s legendary sword, crowning them with a playful knightly identity.

Yet danger remains ever-present. Blade’s gang stalks them, and a tense confrontation unfolds when they restore a purse—belonging to Loretta Lee, Gillian Anderson—to its rightful owner. Loretta is married to Iggy, played by Meat Loaf, a former gang leader who is an old friend of Max’s father, Kenny Kane, James Gandolfini. The boys learn that Kenny is now in prison for the murder of Max’s mother, a crime Max witnessed when he was a child. The revelation becomes a heavy weight on both boys and adds a serious undercurrent to Max’s growing sense of self and place in the world. Loretta, who once called Max “mute,” helps untangle the sting of past trauma and reminds him that they are not defined by their fathers’ sins.

The festive season takes a dark turn on Christmas Eve when Kenny Kane is released on parole and abducts Max, dragging him to Iggy and Loretta’s apartment. There, Max is bound, and Loretta fights to help him escape while Kenny violently attacks his wife, desperate to erase the past. The moment brings back a buried memory of Kenny’s murder of Max’s mother, igniting Max’s resolve. In a daring rescue, Kevin—armed with a comically mythical squirt gun claimed to be loaded with sulfuric acid—sprays Kenny in the eyes, momentarily disorienting him. The rescue culminates when Max tackles Kenny through a wall where the police, who had been tracking them, finally close in. Kenny Kane is sent back to prison for life without parole, and Kevin and Max return home to share a quiet Christmas dinner with Gwen, Gram, and Grim.

But the triumph is tempered by tragedy. Kevin dies in his sleep from heart problems, a blow that shatters Max and reshapes the course of his life. The following morning, a grieving Max hurries to the ambulance that has come for Kevin, certain there was more Kevin wanted to show him. Kevin had once spoken of a biogenic intervention unit and a body transplant that would allow him to live a fuller life; the reality, however, proves far more bittersweet: the supposed lab is simply a laundromat, a reminder that some promises don’t unfold as imagined. In the weeks that follow, Max continues to attend school but spends long hours alone, often retreating to the basement and missing Kevin’s funeral. He watches Gwen move away and feels the ache of loss as he tries to chart a future without his closest ally.

Yet the memory of their adventures—and the belief that they transcended their limitations—persists. Max eventually cross paths with Loretta, who offers a steely bit of wisdom: “doing nothing’s a drag, kid.” Inspired by that spirit, he begins to write down the countless escapades he shared with Kevin in a blank book, each page a tribute to their shared ingenuity and bravery. The last page remains unresolved—Max struggles with writer’s block, finally drawing an image of King Arthur’s grave with the line “Here Lies King Arthur, Once and Future King” as a sign that legends never completely fade. In a quiet, hopeful gesture, Max retrieves Kevin’s ornithopter and winds it up, watching it fly again in his memory, a testament to friendship that outlives even a fragile body.

The story is ultimately a portrait of two boys who overcome physical and emotional barriers through loyalty, imagination, and courage. It highlights the kindness of people like Loretta and Iggy, the stern, sometimes painful truths about family and memory, and the timeless idea that even the most unlikely pairs can become a single, unstoppable force when they choose to face the world together.