Run is an American thriller mystery film directed by Aneesh Chaganty. It stars Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen in the lead roles. The film was released on 20th November 2020 on Hulu.
Diane Sherman (Sarah Paulson) has given birth to a premature baby, and seventeen years later we are introduced to Chloe (Kiera Allen) who uses a wheelchair to move, and also suffers from Asthma, and is diabetic. Diane takes good care of her daughter, by giving physiotherapy and medicines, and also provides her homeschooling. Chloe has an interest in repairing machine parts and seems quite an intelligent young woman. But she's not allowed to go outside, not to access the internet, or doesn't even have a mobile phone. But everything was going just fine till she saw a medication with her mother's name on it, and later seeing that her mother is giving it to her at night. She starts suspecting her mother, and one day finds out that Diane has been giving her Ridocaine, a dog medicine, a muscle relaxant, which if consumed by any human can make his/her lower limbs numb. Well, I'm going to end it here, so that's the crux of the story.
Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian have written the script. It successfully creates a mysterious atmosphere from the start, and aware you whatever that is coming next, will not be easy to watch. At the start, it shows some names of the health problems, Arrhythmia, Hemochromatosis, Asthma, Diabetes, Paralysis, and the reason becomes clear after seeing Chloe. The film is very engrossing, and some of the scenes are clap worthy. The mystery behind Diane's character is solid and you'll be hooked onto it till the end. Diane's character from being caring to insanely evil is exceptionally shown. But one thing is not clear, the star-like mark on Diane's back. I thought she belongs to a cult group or something, but they didn't explain that.
Chloe is fully opposite to Diane's character, who is hardworking and self-sufficient. There are some scenes, where Chloe is the only character on the screen, without any dialogues, and trust me, it provides some of the mind-blowing sequences from the film. One scene where she comes out of her window with the help of wire and enters her mother's room through the window, it's so well executed and that window breaking scene is terrific, her ability has been well used, and not just used to give her a personality. The mother-daughter relationship is well established and together delivers some of the best scenes that are so straining and thrilling, you'll get absorbed in the drama and it is tough not to like so well written characters, despite Diane is so evil and venomous.
Sarah Paulson is terrific as Diane. In her last work she portrayed an evil Nurse in Ratched, and now a crazy mother, and that too so perfectly, it is hard not to like her even if she's playing an evil character. She's has been doing such dark roles since American Horror Story and hence she efficiently portrayed Diane so convincingly. A good choice to cast a disabled actress for Chloe's role, as Kiera Allen made Chloe more believable and realistic. She's just outstanding, going out of limits to give scenes with such perfection is commendable.
The cinematography by Hillary Spera is wonderful. The anger and madness of Diane and the pain and sufferings of Chloe have been brought on screen, with so precision is just because of the smart camera work, which majorly focuses on the lead actors' faces and the dark and mysterious tone has also been amazingly set from the start. The terrific production design and the impactful background score helps to lifts the thrilling factor and are very effective.
Run by Aneesh Chaganty, who also directed a masterpiece, Searching, back in 2018, has made an engaging thriller once again with only a mother-daughter pair who are poles apart in terms of characterization, and delivers many unexpected twists and turns, and with the scenario getting worse with every second, it becomes very exciting and captivating and delivers a mind-boggling ending, like M. Night Shyamalan's movies. It's a well-made, strong, and powerful thriller with top-notch performances that delivers some unnerving and unforgettable scenes and I'm looking forward to see Chaganty's next work, which might be the sequel to Searching. His work has a resemblance with that of Shyamalan's, who is also known for giving mind-bending and unsettling films, and after Run, Chaganty is one to look forward to.
Rating:- 3.5/5
Now streaming on Hulu.
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