The Outrun
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
Writer: Nora Fingscheidt, Amy Liptrot
Based on: Amy Liptrot’s memoir (loosely)
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Paapa Essiedu, Stephen Dillane, Saskia Reeves, Izuka Hoyle
Seen on: 19.12.2024

Plot:
Rona (Saoirse Ronan) spent the last few years in London. But increasing levels of alcoholism have slowly but surely destroyed her life there, including her relationship with Daynin (Paapa Essiedu). Now, freshly rehabed, Rona returns home to the Orkney islands. Moving back in with her mother Annie (Saskia Reeves) who tries to introduce Rona to religion that has become her own anchor, Rona spends more time with her father (Stephen Dillane), helping on his farm and trying to care for him during the bad spells of his bipolar disorder. It is only when Rona takes a bird-watching job, though, that she starts to find what she has been looking for.

The Outrun is a beautiful and truthful film about alcoholism and recovery with an astounding performance by Saoirse Ronan.

I haven’t read Liptrot’s memoir, and I don’t know which parts of the film have been fictionalized. Be that as it may, the movie achieves this sense of truth that doesn’t care that much about the details, but that manages to capture something of the essence of the matters at its heart.

Rona’s struggle with alcoholism, how she slides into it gradually, how mental health issues run in the family (this, too, caught very accurately) and the way she finds herself in solitude are beautifully captured. At the same time, it’s clear that the film doesn’t pretend that solitude is a general solution for everybody. Nor is it the first step in Rona’s recovery – it’s the last. Too many people try to face their struggles alone. Here being alone comes after the first victory has been declared and the question becomes: what is next? What can I turn to when the battle is over?

Ronan is fantastic in this demanding performance. The film shows her in almost every shot, and she manages show Rona’s vulnerability in all of them. Even in the moments where Rona’s behavior is inexcusable. She is always a great actress, but she is a force of nature here.

The narrative jumps between the Orkney islands and London; and in time, allowing the film to show how little of the events in London are Rona’s past, how much of it still shapes her present. How Fingscheidt ties all of this together reinforces just how talented of a director she is – something that she has shown with Systemsprenger already. I will be here for whatever she does next.

Summarizing: excellent.