Review 729: The Outrun

 

We've seen dramas about addiction and alchoholism before, but Nora Fingscheidt tender, sensitive and visually beautiful drama

Based on memoir of the same name by Amy Liptrot; After a decade away in London, 29-year-old Rona (Saoirse Ronan) returns home to the Orkney Islands. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey to recovery. Slowly the beauty and lore of the land enters her inner world and - one day at a time - Rona finds hope and strength in herself among the heavy gales and the bracingly cold sea.

Opening with a beautiful wide shot of an Orkney beach, followed by a low angle shot of someone walking on that beach, The Outrun is a grueling and emotionally draining drama that takes us inside the head of

At its core, The Outrun is a film about addiction and how someone can become engulfed by addiction. The film expertly and to unsettling results, the sense of physical displacement and the way in which when physically displaced, it enables a form of recovery. 

Rona goes back to nature to fix herself and finds solace in the beauty of nature. The only way to escape from her addiction is to isolate herself in Papa Westray away from the busy London life in which her addiction has flourished.

It's also a story about a struggle but Rona's addiction is only one part of it. It's also a story about people's mental health and where you fit into the world.

There's a scene towards the end of the film where Rona goes swimming in the seas of Papa Westray and as Mark Kermode put it, "it's like you're seeing someone come to life by being washed in the sea." Rona emerses herself in the briany by being engulfed in water.

Director Nora Fingscheidt, who also co-wrote the screenplay with author, Amy Liptrot, makes great use of low angle shots and hand-held camera work to   The cinematography is gorgeous, capturing the beauty and  nature of the Orkney. There's some beautiful underwater photography showcasing the sea life of the Orkney Islands.  The locations ranging from the cityscapes of London to the majestic almost otherworldly Orkney Islands and Papa Westray are simply fabulous  the score by John Gurtler and Jan Miserre

Saoirse Ronan delivers a mesmirising performance of raw intensity as Rona. A biology graduate who's also an alcholoic, she finds freedom in in partying in Hackney. There, she meets Daynin (Paapa Essiedu) Rona tries to focus on her job at the RSPB   abusing her body.

4.5/5