I really wanted to enjoy The Outrun, I’m a fan of Saoirse Ronan plus a film set in Scotland can’t be all bad. I even gave it the benefit of the doubt and watched it a second time. Sadly The Outrun is a hard slog that is about as depressing as the character Ronan plays.
After splitting from her boyfriend (Paapa Essiedu who we see in flashbacks) due to her addiction to drugs and alcohol Rona (Ronan) heads back to the Orkney Islands in Scotland where her mother and father, who are separated, stay.
We follow Rona as she goes to AA meetings deals with her father’s bipolar disorder and gets a job with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds looking for a rare bird that’s not been seen on Orkney for years. In-between that we get various narrative interludes as Rona goes on about seals, sea weed and dragons, these mostly happen as she’s standing on a beach or some wind swept cliff.
If all this sounds interesting then The Outrun might be for you if not you’ll probably be a bored as I was (twice)
The cinematography makes great use of the Scottish scenery and Ronan is, as always, good. But sadly The Outrun is a film that is just about as bleak as the Scottish landscape where it’s set.
2/5
The Outrun
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Cast:: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves
