Run (2020) review by Hannah Pooley

 

Run, directed by Aneesh Chaganty, is a new claustrophobic and nail biting thriller – now streaming on Netflix!

Like most of us, Chloe Sherman (Keira Allen) has been stuck at home a lot recently. Chloe was born with many health problems – she has asthma, arrhythmia, diabetes and she is paralysed from the waist down, so has spent most of her life in a wheelchair. Her overbearing mother Diane (Sarah Paulson) home schools Chloe and controls everything from her mail, phone privileges and her medication. With college acceptance letters looming, Chloe is hoping to move away and begin her newly independent adult life. However, her mother has other more sinister plans for her…

What follows in this gripping 90 minute thriller is an intense roller-coaster ride of twists and shocks, and things are not all as them seem as Chloe begins to unearth the truth about her mother. Run is a very confident film, with a short (appreciated) run time and it does not hold back, starting with barely any exposition. It lines up two main leads – who are both excellent. Keira Allen as Chloe takes the role and pushes her far out of her comfort zones – she is vulnerable, and at times naive – but she is smart and is handled with great care to make her believable. Once she twigs on to the web of lies that her life has become, it is devastating. Allen also uses a wheelchair in real life, so when she is forced to escape from her own bedroom without her chair, you can truly feel the pain and anguish she may have felt in her own experiences. She has only ever starred in one other movie, however she fleshes out her role so elegantly and authentically, she could be a new actress to watch.

Her co-star Sarah Paulson as the meddling Diane, on the other hand is a horror veteran – she has starred in nearly every series of the beloved American Horror Story (created by Ryan Murphy). Paulson has played all kinds of roles from a psychic medium, a witch, a ghost drug addict and an investigative journalist. However, it feels as though her role as the titular character in the recent series Ratched (also created by Murphy) helped her create an evil, disturbed character, that she has taken elements from to play Diane. Again, her part already feels lived in from the very beginning of Run, the audience are hinted that something is terribly wrong with the mother (if you hadn’t already seen the very obvious trailer!). Paulson shines in all aspects of this mother’s twisted, dark pursuit to control her child. She is conniving, paranoid and downright evil with what she does to her daughter… however Paulson still manages to give Diane a (fraction) of empathy. Diane is a down trodden recluse and has a traumatic past, and ultimately like so many of us, some things she simply cannot let go.

As for the direction and feel of the film, Aneesh Chaganty (who recently directed well received Searching) effortlessly creates a sense of dread and intrigue – the key to a well-crafted psychological thriller – and you can tell why many critics and fans alike have made comparisons of this to the work of Hitchcock. It is a simple concept, but thoroughly effective and toe curling at times. Run does even go down a slightly wacky road in the film’s final moments, however the twist is definitely down to interpretation and does not (luckily) undermine the rest of the movie that preceded it. The film focuses most clearly and effectively on the theme of anxiety – a parent who is mortified of her child leaving her and her losing her purpose and that of a teenager pondering – can she truly make it on her own in a potentially cruel and unforgiving world?

Like all straight to streaming releases during this ongoing pandemic, I wish I had seen this in a cinema. I can almost hear the audience gasping during the film’s most nerve-shredding moments….whilst still shovelling in their popcorn! Run is by all means not perfect, but it will stick with you for days after. It should still sit up there with some of the classic thrillers and horrors of the modern age, due to its excellent performances, clever editing and direction, and sheer conviction. So watch this from your own cosy sofa… but you will not feel comfortable for long!

8/10