The Big Picture

The Outrun is a staggering look at addiction, expertly melding the past and present through a magnificent performance by Saoirse Ronan. The film takes an unconventional, nonlinear approach, showcasing that alcoholism will always be a part of the protagonist’s life. Ronan gives an exhausting and emotional performance, highlighting the uncontrollable horror of addiction, while Paapa Essiedu portrays the pain of loving someone struggling with addiction.

Throughout The Outrun, Rona (Saoirse Ronan) likes to orchestrate the world around her. She’ll raise her hands and pretend to conduct the crashing waves or the thumping crowd of a club—a false sense of control in a life out of control. With The Outrun, director Nora Fingscheidt adapts Amy Liptrop’s memoir of the same name like a master conductor, melding the past and present expertly to create a staggering look at addiction through a magnificent performance by Ronan.

The Outrun After living life on the edge in London, Rona attempts to come to terms with her troubled past. She returns to the wild beauty of Scotland’s Orkney Islands (where she grew up) hoping to heal. Adapted from Amy Liptrot’s bestselling memoir. Release Date January 19, 2024 Director Nora Fingscheidt Runtime 118 minutes

‘The Outrun’ Tells a Complex Story of Addiction
Fingscheidt takes an unconventional, nonlinear approach to Rona’s story, which shows that no matter whether we’re seeing the highs and lows of Rona’s life, her struggles with alcoholism are a part of her that weaves into every day. When we first meet Rona, she’s having a one-person party at a London pub, which ends in her being drunk on the street, and getting picked up by a stranger—which leads to her waking up the next morning with a black eye. We then jump forward in time, as we join Rona just out of rehab and back home in the Orkney Islands. She assists her father (Stephen Dillane) on his farm, helps with his bipolar episodes, and gives her mother (Saskia Reeves) a hard time for her dedication to Christianity.

Fingscheidt goes back and forth through time, making it clear that regardless of when we see Rona, alcoholism will always be a part of who she is. As we jump back in time, we watch as her relationship with her boyfriend Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) falls apart due to her uncontrollable outbursts brought on when she’s drunk. These flashbacks feel like memories that Rona is playing out through her head, providing remembrances of when she was happy, but also at her most destructive and terrifying—complete with the unshakable regrets and longing to have that feeling once more.

As we spend time with Rona on the Orkney Islands, we see just how much of a daily struggle her life truly is. While she might thrive at work and at finding who she really wants to become, all it takes is an unfortunate comment from her dad, or a stray glass of wine to make the possibility of relapse very real. There’s the possibility of temptation around every corner, and giving in to that brings her a joy that she never feels when she’s sober. Especially during her periods of recovery, Fingscheidt makes sure we notice the omnipresence of alcohol in the world, where even a single drop can be an unbearable itch in her mind.

Saoirse Ronan Gives One of Her Best Performances in ‘The Outrun’
Image via StudioCanal

Ronan is expectedly great as Rona, and even as we watch her do and say unspeakable things, we can’t help but want her to make it through just one more day. Through Ronan’s presence, we see the uncontrollable and unpredictable horror of addiction. Every sip is a possibility, every bottle a gem that shouldn’t be wasted. Ronan gives an understandably exhausting and emotional performance where every scene seems as though we’re watching Rona actively struggle to not give in to her wants. After years of excellent roles, Rona might be one of Ronan’s greatest accomplishments yet.

Also fantastic is Essiedu, who almost becomes an audience surrogate as we watch Rona slowly destroy herself. Comparatively, he is giving a quiet, heartbreaking performance, as he watches his love start to drift away, slipping through his fingers in a way that he can’t stop. Essiedu rarely speaks in the film, but through his tragic eyes almost always full of tears, he’s saying everything he needs to. While we see the impact Rona’s actions have on others throughout the film, it’s Essiedu’s role that shows the true pain that this disease can cause to the world around the addict.

The shores of Scotland and the streets of London are beautifully brought to life by cinematographer Yunus Roy Imer. The style and look of the film make the audience feel every windy night, every dance of celebration or drunken confusion, and the warmth of a community, in all its forms. The Outrun is also expertly pieced together by editor Stephan Bechinger, and while this story could’ve easily become unwieldy from the many jumps back and forth in time, the editing manages to keep this all concise and clear—a fairly stunning task.

Nora Fingscheidt’s Assured Writing and Directing Makes ‘The Outrun’ Work

But it’s Fingscheidt’s directing and writing that makes this all work together beautifully. The screenplay is ambitious in how it tells this story, and the structure makes it more powerful than your standard addiction film. Fingscheidt shifts the warmth between London and Scotland as Rona’s story proceeds, and her extreme close-ups of Rona show how deeply she changes on a fundamental level. Fingscheidt has an assured hand in how she tackles an extremely difficult story, and it’s easy to see how this could’ve all fallen apart into a maudlin portrait. But it never does.

The Outrun’s only questionable choice comes in Rona’s narration. While sometimes it works, as when she’s explaining stories within Scottish mythology, which is brought to life in beautiful animation, or discussing a legend about seals, it’s often used to give the audience unnecessary details. Sometimes, the narration provides common sense information that anyone should know, and it’s hard to imagine that The Outrun wouldn’t improve without this extra addition.

Together, Ronan and Fingscheidt make The Outrun a remarkable work, culminating in a powerful conclusion that beautifully encapsulates everything and makes this such a stunning drama. There have been plenty of addiction dramas over the years, so it takes a lot for one to stand out in this crowded space. But Ronan and Fingscheidt manage to find an original and remarkably beautiful way to approach this extremely difficult subject matter.

The Outrun REVIEWThe Outrun is a powerful addiction drama, thanks to a tremendous Nora Fingscheidt. performance by Saoirse Ronan and assured directing by ProsSaoirse Ronan gives one of her best performances as an alcoholic struggling to stay sober. Nora Fingscheidt’s directing and writing make a complex narrative come together beautifully. ConsSome unnecessary narration is clumsy in a film that is usually assured.

The Outrun had its World Premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.