In writer-director Nora Fingscheidt’s new drama, The Outrun, Saoirse Ronan is given the most raw and intensely human character she has played thus far. The film showcases Ronan’s undeniable talents, as the actress creates a layered portrayal of a woman full of love who is brought down by her addictions. Based on Amy Liptrot’s 2016 memoir, Ronan plays a fictionalized version of the author, named Rona. Living a life of too many parties and too much alcohol, Ronan is at the doorstep of 30 and returns from London to her childhood home in Orkney (a Scottish archipelago) to fight for her recovery. 

Her boyfriend, Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) loves her, but feels alienated and has come to the end of his emotional rope regarding her self-destructive path. Rona attends AA meetings, but they don’t help. She wants to stop, but her disease gets the best of her. As life becomes unbearable, Rona returns to her Scottish homelands, becoming a documenter of the local bird population for an environmental group; bonding with nature and the welcoming terrains of her mother country. 

Director Fingscheidt and screenwriter Daisy Lewis adapt Liptrot’s memoir with respect, but overdo the craft. The Outrun is an examination of the soul and an honest portrait of the personal destruction caused by addiction. The filmmaker uses a non-chronological structure that mirrors the broken pieces of Rona’s memories. This works for a while, until the many directorial flourishes interrupt the dramatic pull. Her remembrances are clues to the cause of her addictions, but when memories become montage, emotions become confused. 

Rona has a deeply religious mother (Saskia Reeves) and a bipolar father (Stephen Dillane). The young woman came from a family cursed with dysfunction and divorce. While mom couldn’t take the husband’s mental issues, she always loved her daughter, but cannot understand how her daughter fell into addiction, when (for the mother) God should be the answer. Dad stands as more of a metaphor for the breaking point of one’s mind. A particular episode where he smashes out the windows of his home as gale-force winds roar through the land, is a bit obvious. Mother and father represent the chaotic wreck that was (and still is) her life.  

The Outrun balances self-healing with Roan’s narration regarding Nature. Much is spoken about the DNA of human beings and its similarities to jellyfish. Rona’s isolation brings her closer to the land and, in turn, the scope of the countryside causes her to look inward, as introspection breeds a symmetry between Roan and the landscape. Her troubled mind and broken heart find a confidante in the crashing waves and blowing winds. There is poetry in these moments and in Ronan’s poignant performance. In this film, nature is as important a character as Rona.

While occasionally over-directed, the picture is often compelling in how it doesn’t give up on the more grim parts of Rona’s life. As people in the throes of alcoholism can destroy their lives beyond repair, the film finds Rona at rock bottom, but allows the character room to examine her pain and grow. Hers is an existence of past memories and Rona will no longer let her pain define her. Saoirse Ronan is continually flawless in her portrayal, navigating every dramatic beat with supreme confidence and skill. Her work is strong enough to rise above the excessive direction.

A fractured narrative can work very well (Charlotte Wells 2022 gem Aftersun is a perfect example), but director Nora Fingscheidt’s approach to the material too often hurts the powerful story. The quiet moments work very well. As Rona walks amongst nature while navigating her memories and narrating her thoughts for the audience, the film occasionally touches a Terrence Malick-like zen, only to be drowned out in Stephan Bechinger’s scattered editing choices. While memories as snapshots is certainly the point, Rona’s story should have been more structurally sound. 

The film is well made, but too often muted in tone. The audience may align themselves with Rona and choose to root for her recovery, but Fingscheidt cannot seem to keep her film moving. Everything that needs to be said happens in the first 45 minutes. Once the film continues on the same path for too long, we realize it has no place else to go; becoming overly drab and meditative, but not in interesting ways. After a while, the story comes to a dead halt.

Rona is a woman who almost gives up on life. As she tries and tries to beat her addictions, life pushes back, but there is hope and it is moving to see her choose life against all the odds. The world is forever broken. Why allow oneself to succumb to it. As Leonard Cohen sang, “There’s a hole in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

The Outrun is not a bad film, but one that meanders to an unsatisfactory second half. There is a truth inside the story and, perhaps, a beautiful soul. Once the film loses the power of its own convictions, it is the award-worthy work of Saorise Ronan that carries the only interest.

The Outrun

Written by Daisy Lewis and Nora Fingscheidt (Based on the memoir by Amy Liptrot)

Directed by Nora Fingscheidt

Starring Saorise Ronan, Saskia Reeves, Stephen Dillaine, Paapa Essiedu, Izuka Hoyle

R, 118 Minutes, BBC Films, Sony Pictures Classics, Brock Media, Arcade Pictures