All the Little Animals

All the Little Animals is a 1998 feature film, directed and produced by Jeremy Thomas, based on the novel of the same name by Walker Hamilton. It was adapted for the screen by Eski Thomas, and starred Christian Bale and John Hurt.

The story centers on an emotionally challenged man named Bobby Christian Bale. He runs away from home in order to escape his abusive stepfather Daniel Benzali, nicknamed The Fat, who had killed Bobbys pet mouse and, as Bobby puts it, screamed at his mother until she died as a result. He finds himself in woodlands near Cornwall in England, eventually meeting an old man after being involved in a car accident John Hurt. Mr. Summers, as the man calls himself, spends his time traveling and giving burials to animals that have been killed by cars, a task he refers to as The Work. Bobby, also having an affinity for animals, becomes friends with the old man and aids him in his task.Jeremy Thomas, by then an Academy Awardwinning producer, later remembered his journey to becoming a director ........

Source: Wikipedia