Run (2020)

By: Mike Ward on Wednesday, November 25

PG-13 Running Time: 90 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen make a terrific team, with Paulson an overprotective mother and Allen, a disabled teenager ready to strike out on her own.
After the pulse-pounding 2018 film Searching, writer/director Aneesh Chaganty returns with a wicked little thriller and shows he is becoming a truly special filmmaker.
The film just works. Though this type of movie has been made many times before, Run is so well-acted and put together, it just draws you in and before you know it - you are hooked.

NO

For some, the fact that Run shows its cards early on, is something of a disappointment.
Potential trigger warning for viewers who are sensitive to babies and newborns in peril.
A polarizing ending has caused some viewers to completely pivot on their thoughts of the film. Worked well for me, but best to watch this all the way through.

OUR REVIEW

A suspense/thriller/horror film with very little that can be discussed, or shared, out of consideration of spoilers, Run bypassed a theatrical stint earlier this year and debuted on Hulu in late November 2020. Starring Sarah Paulson and newcomer Kiera Allen as a mother and daughter struggling to co-exist through a number of uncertainties and challenges, Run is a taut, effective, predictable film which crackles with intensity on the backs of two strong performances and a terrific writer/director, Aneesh Chaganty (Searching).

For those familiar with Searching, Chaganty’s first film, which used the conceit of social media and a myriad of screens and platforms to tell the story of a father trying to find his missing teenage daughter, Run settles into a tense parent/child dynamic, while establishing a story of loyalty, trust, and dangerous misconceptions.

In her feature-film debut, Allen is terrific as Chloe, a disabled teenager ready to embark on a life outside of her protective home as she hopes to attend the University of Washington. Diane (Paulson), is a doting, attentive single mother who may be a bit zealous in the protecting of her daughter, but has been the one constant while Chloe has battled a significant set of medical challenges in her 17 years, including arrhythmia, diabetes, asthma, and paralysis, among other setbacks.

Balancing the strict controls implemented by Diane, with a teenager/almost adult girl who sees her survival as a chance to propel into a new world with college on the horizon, a mislabeled prescription bottle sets in motion a series of realizations that may seem obvious, even telegraphed for the viewer, but are nonetheless executed with a deranged and diabolical undercurrent of enthusiasm and wickedness.

Even if you figure out Run’s basic storypath in relatively quick fashion, as I largely did, Chaganty has a blast concocting this tale. Paulson is so effortlessly convincing in her role, she would normally be the standout. Allen matches her beat-for-beat and plays a perfect counterbalance to Chaganty’s nasty little cat-and-mouse tale.

Will Merrick’s editing is precise and effective, and as we grow to empathize with one character’s situation, Chaganty and co-writer Sev Ohanian ramp up the stakes. Run works best by daring us to know everything, while still delivering some powerful moments of tension. Allen has one scene in particular, involving her being locked out of a room, which contains some of the most white-knuckle intensity in any film I’ve seen this year.

And that’s where Run succeeds. At its most fantastical, there’s an authenticity to the film that makes it unique. Paulson’s turn as an increasingly concerned mother teeters on the edge of caricature, but she is so convincing, and Allen’s cherubic eyes so responsive, we just fall in line and take whatever Run has to offer.

An unsettling and nasty little surprise, Run initially fell victim to COVID-19’s nationwide shutdown of movie theaters, before Hulu snatched up the rights and added it to their platform. This was a wise choice, because Run is one of those movies you recommend to friends. It plays well at home. And the film is so small and intimately managed, it feels like a personal discovery when you fall under its spell.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen, Pat Healy, Sara Sohn.

Director: Aneesh Chaganty
Written by: Aneesh Chaganty, Sev Ohanian
Release Date: November 20, 2020
Hulu

Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen make a terrific team, with Paulson an overprotective mother and Allen, a disabled teenager ready to strike out on her own.

After the pulse-pounding 2018 film Searching, writer/director Aneesh Chaganty returns with a wicked little thriller and shows he is becoming a truly special filmmaker.

The film just works. Though this type of movie has been made many times before, Run is so well-acted and put together, it just draws you in and before you know it - you are hooked.

For some, the fact that Run shows its cards early on, is something of a disappointment.

Potential trigger warning for viewers who are sensitive to babies and newborns in peril.

A polarizing ending has caused some viewers to completely pivot on their thoughts of the film. Worked well for me, but best to watch this all the way through.