The Outrun: Movie Review

Cast Saoirse Ronan, Saskia Reeves, Paapa Essidu, Stephen Dillane
Director: Nora Fingscheidt

A blisteringly remarkable performance from Saoirse Ronan turns the familiar story of a recovering alcoholic into something truly transcendental in Fingscheidt's adaptation of Amy Lipton's memoir.

In a powerhouse performance, Ronan plays Nora, an alcoholic whose raison d'etre is the drink, and who opines at one point in an AA meeting that she can't be happy when she's sober. With a father who has been diagnosed as bipolar, and a mother who's found religion after her split, Nora has been brought up in a fractious household in the Orkney Islands before winding her way to London, freedom and the inevitable downward spiral of addiction.

The Outrun follows Nora's attempts to recover at home, away from temptation but blighted by memories of good times, of riotous nights out and of some of the darker times of her messy relationship with Daynin (Essidu). 

But Fingscheidt has interwoven the non-linear narrative with the power of nature - from the myths of selkies (seals who wander onto the land in human form but can be restless if trapped and don't return to the sea in time) to scenes of the raw pounding of the sea. So much so that as the film goes on and Nora's memories intertwine with back and forths of her daily struggle, it becomes a truly captivating brew of potency and a lead actor who's at the height of their powers.

It's a remarkable performance from Ronan - never showy, never spotlight-driven, but raw, visceral, honest and utterly compelling as she struggles with the claustrophobia of company while sober, grapples with temptation and rises and falls with the ebb and flow of the tide.

Fingscheidt uses the land around her in all its vast emptiness and raw nature to show the possibility Rona has of peace - and like a force of nature, Ronan rises to the occasion, delivering a lead performance that transcends the simple addiction recovery trope.

Emotionally charged, brutally honest and totally raw when it needs to be, The Outrun is one of the strongest films of 2024 - it's searing and unforgettable.

This film is playing as part of the 2024 Whanau Marama New Zealand International Film Festival. For more details, visit nziff.co.nz