He looked like the ideal husband. He seemed like the perfect father. That's just what they needed. But that's not what they got.
When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.
Directed by Michael Caton-Jones
Starring Robert De Niro, Ellen Barkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Blechman, Eliza Dushku, Chris Cooper, Carla Gugino, Zachary Ansley
TMDB lists no release dates for Australia yet. The first cinema release anywhere was on 9 April 1993 in the United States.
JustWatch lists it streaming with a subscription on Disney Plus.
JustWatch lists it to buy on Apple TV Store, Amazon Video and YouTube.
From TMDB release dates and JustWatch offers, as listed on 17 October 2026. Both change often; a missing date or offer means none is listed yet.
Release dates in Australia
In cinemas
No date listed
Digital release
No date listed
Physical release
No date listed
First cinema release anywhere
9 April 1993 (the United States)
Dates come from TMDB and can change. The digital date is the first rental, purchase or streaming date and does not confirm a launch on a particular service; the physical date does not confirm a Blu-ray or 4K edition. Both are often added closer to release.
Stan (subscription): no longer listed, by our checks of Thursday 15 October
From our streaming checks, last checked 17 Oct, 16:53 AEDT. "Expected" dates come from availability data, not the service; a "first detected" date is when a check first found it there, not its release date. See streaming releases this week in Australia.
Plan the screen size, seating and speaker layout for This Boy's Life in the free 3D design studio, or ask the Advisor which sound format suits your room.
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