The wait is finally over, after what feels like eons since the US release, Run finally arrived on UK shores via Netflix on the 2nd April. Was it worth the wait?
Teenager Chloe (Kiera Allen) lives at home with caring mother Diane (Sarah Paulson). Chloe is driven and independent, but due to a myriad of medical conditions, she is wheelchair-bound and home-schooled. Whilst eagerly awaiting potential college acceptances that would see her venturing out to the world alone, she comes across an unusual prescription packet for her mother. Later that night during her usual medication intake she spots the same tablets, but Diane insists they are Chloe’s and just a new design of an old pill. Unconvinced by her mother, this sets off a chain of reactions and investigations, leading Chloe to learn that maybe everything about her life is not as it seems.
Anyone who has been following Paulson’s career or watched more than one episode of American Horror Story will already know how easily she glides through this film with her signature brand of unnerving kindness and unsettling smiles. Her performance as hyper organised mother Diane treads a wonderful line that leaves the audience just as unsure as daughter Chloe – just what is she up to?
Whilst Paulson is billed up top, Keira Allen as Chloe gives a wonderful performance, nailing every beat and matching Paulson’s chemistry with equal bewilderment and inquisitiveness. Run is Allen’s film debut, and you would never know it as she carries numerous scenes as our eyes and ears through the home. A wheelchair user in real life, she is only the second female wheelchair-using actress to star in a suspense film and her real-life experiences only add to the natural ease with which she moves through the film.
Whilst Chloe’s disability is an important plot point within the film, Allen’s performance combined with strong direction and writing from Aneesh Chaganty (co-written with Sev Ohanian) ensure it isn’t the only personality trait Chloe possesses. It’s Chaganty’s second feature, a follow-up to 2018’s visually acclaimed Searching and Run proves he is not a one-trick pony.
A clever, at times unnerving thriller with solid direction and powerful performances from the women on screen, Run is definitely worth your time this long weekend.
6.7
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Ex film teacher and frequent couch potato. I try and see at least one new release a week, but I’ve somehow got to 30 without having seen The Godfather?
