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DIGITAL

Opening Date

17 Oct 2024

Rating

NC16 Sexual Scene and Some Mature Content

Runtime

118 mins

Language

English - subtitles to be advised

Genre

Drama

Director

Nora Fingscheidt

Cast

Saoirse Ronan, Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves, Paapa Essiedu

Synopsis

Based on the best-selling memoir by Amy Liptrot, THE OUTRUN is set in the otherworldly Orkney islands of Scotland. A brutally honest drama about addiction and recovery, strength and survival, mental health and the ability of the sea, the land and of people to restore life and renew hope.

After a decade away in London, 29-year-old Rona returns home to the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Sober but lonely, she tries to suppress her memory of the events which set her on this journey of recovery. Slowly the mystical 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.

Reviews

By InCinemas 16 Oct 2024

A profound tale of one alcoholic’s painful road to reclamation and self-discovery.

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Set against the beautiful backdrop of the serene Orkney Islands is a profound tale of one alcoholic’s painful road to reclamation and self-discovery. This is Amy Liptrot’s story – first shared in a moving written memoir, now adapted to film for visual telling.

The Outrun is directed by Nora Fingscheidt (The Unforgivable) from a screenplay she co-wrote with Liptrot, and a story the two co-wrote with Daisy Lewis. It stars Saoirse Ronan, who also serves as a producer, along with Paapa Essiedu, Nabil Elouahabi, Izuka Hoyle, Lauren Lyle, Saskia Reeves, and Stephen Dillane in supporting roles.

The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion and follows Rona (Ronan), a young woman recently out of rehab for alcoholism who returns home to the Orkney Islands in Scotland. Her parents are separated so she alternates her time between living with her religious mother (Reeves) in town and her bipolar father (Dillane) on his farm.

Rona’s previous life as a biology graduate student in London is shown in flashbacks – enjoying freedom, clubbing and finding love. But it’s not all fun and games anymore when Rona’s excessive drinking turns into alcoholism, putting the safety of the people around her at risk and damaging her relationships with them. Her uncontrolable behaviour proved too much for her boyfriend Daynin (Essiedu) to endure so he leaves her. Despite this, Rona still drank and partied which led to her being vulnerable to an attack. This was enough of a wake-up call to check herself into rehab.

Fingscheidt and Liptrot’s screenplay doesn’t shy away from displaying the harrowing truth and ugliness of alcohol abuse which makes the film all that more discomforting yet enlightening. It may be harder for a non-alcoholic to relate to the struggles but we can all understand addiction and that is enough for viewers to commiserate with Rona.

Don’t be fooled by Ronan’s clean and demure beauty because she is more than capable of shedding her natural image for anything her films ask of her. She fires on all cylinders in her committed performance as Rona, playing the part of an alcoholic so effortlessly, it almost feels like watching reality television. We’ve seen the actress excel in many a film but she’s never more honest, exposed or finessed as she is here.

Rona also struggles to connect with anyone back in Orkney so she’s mostly seen by her lonesome, with EDM music blasting from her headphones. It’s a rather contradicting sight to behold considering she’s surrounded by peaceful nature but speaks volumes for Rona’s escapist persona. The urge to drink keeps her away from London for longer, so she eventually gets a job with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which involves a systematic search for the now-rare corn crake.

One day, Rona finds her father in a depressive and non-responsive state. In a brief moment of weakness, she relapses by taking a taste from his unattended wine glass. She returns to her mother’s in a drunken state and just as it seems she’s doomed to alcoholism again, she seeks help. Not long after, she finds herself on a job with the RSPB on the remote Papa Westray island. Here, she lives by herself, connecting with the locals, including a fellow alcoholic who runs the grocery. He recognises her struggles and tells her “It never gets easy, just gets less hard.” This is one of the most memorable lines spoken in the film from one character to another but the writing truly shines through many a narration Rona poetically delivers throughout the course of the film.

Rona develops a new interest and grows healthier from her time in isolation. As she leaves the island, she finally hears the distinctive frog-like call of a corn crake, a cathartic conclusion that will leave you sitting in your own thoughts long beyond the credit roll.

The Outrun is by no means an easy watch but its transcendent delivery of one’s struggle in overcoming their addiction is strikingly enthralling.
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